


Old Warriors Things I Did

by Hungry_AloeLeaf



Category: The Princess Bride - William Goldman, The Tale of Despereaux - Kate DiCamillo, Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: "wat dis catman doings in my house????", "you spend too much time with your son to acknowledge me", Alderheart is perplexed to say in the least, Attempt at Humor, Cringey very possibly, Curses, Darkstripe being a terrible villian, F/M, Fairy Tale Curses, Fluff and Angst, Hawk being a bit of a brat, I hope it's not too cringey, I wrote this when I was so so much younger, Jayfeather comin' for your nakey throne, Jealous Darkstripe, Just I used to combine a lot of stuff with Warriors, Magewolf! go check them out if you'd like, Okay so just realized I was right the first time, Shenanigans, Tiger trying to be a good Dark Forest dad, Tigerdad and Hawkson, and i do WANT to finish it, bad intentioned Harespring, been thinking about Leave us alone man lately, darn then, guess that was always a thing, kind of, look out Mao Mao, me reviewing my old chappie was inspired byyy, meow unclebaker, might rewrite this?, naked kitty cat time, plus Fifty Year Curse review posted, posting the oldest stuff because writers block, that hc is ancient as time itself, the characters are Warriors tho, transforming cat to human au, with the capitalization in MageWolf's user, yeah i bet you didn't see that coming, yes this is a Warrior cats fic thing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:49:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28423473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hungry_AloeLeaf/pseuds/Hungry_AloeLeaf
Summary: What will happen? Lots of shenanigans, of course!The oldest Warrior fanfics this leaf ever did. No, you may not be interested, but-okay if you're not interested i won't make you read anything shoo now enjoy the rest of your daybut for you *grins* who may be a teensy weensy bit intrigued? if there's any of you, ya got a big hurricane a comingmay include commentary from a little leaf on their old works so stay tuned!
Relationships: Breezepelt & Lionblaze & Jayfeather (Warriors), Breezepelt/Heathertail (Warriors), Thistleclaw/Mapleshade (Warriors)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 8





	1. Chronicles of what really went down (look it was the title on the doc)

**Author's Note:**

> I remember doing this and being like "what happened in the Dark Forest right before the Great Battle" and I guess it certainly wasn't this  
> I was thinking about this, and now I have a little idea that is inspired by MageWolf! (btw would suggest checking them out! They have a bunch of wonderful works)
> 
> Basically, I post the chapter as it is, then the next one can be me reviewing the old chapter. Like commentary, I think! I can say what I changed about my writing since then, laugh at how I wrote the characters, and other stuff! May include my oldest works on here too, so I'm excited. Haven't really been inspired to write in a while, and this is really exciting for this leaf
> 
> anyways, i'll stop blabbing, and let you enjoy the trainwreck!

Hawkfrost felt more tears soak the dirt as Darkstripe yanked on his other paw, twisting it, and dislocating his arm in the process. When the arm popped out, Hawkfrost could see flashes of white against his eyelids. Darkstripe pushed his head even deeper into the dust.

“Shut up!” Hawkfrost silenced his whimpers. He was running out of air to whimper with. Darkstripe purred, not a delightful happy purr, but a dark purr that vibrated throughout Hawkfrost’s back.

“Hee hee! I’m not going to leave any claw marks either.”

Rage built up inside of Hawkfrost, even worse than the emotions he felt over Brambleclaw. But Hawkfrost couldn’t feel his claws to unleash them, so he just writhed in silent rage. Darkstripe smiled.

“And this scent? This is Goldenflower, Tigerstar’s last mate. She was Brambleclaw’s mother.”

Hawkfrost stiffened. _Brambleclaw’s mother? What about HIS mother? What about Sasha? Didn’t Tigerstar love her? Didn’t they love each other?_

“You liar!” Hawkfrost screeched, thought the screeches were getting weak from the lack of oxygen. He lashed his tail in anger. “You're lying!”

Though his voice was muffled by the dirt, you could get a vague idea of the words he was yelling. Darkstripe purred again, pressing down on Hawkfrost’s tail in an almost playful manner. 

“Lying? No, it’s true. And he loved Bramblekit because he looked like him.”

“I look like him too!” Hawkfrost wanted to shout, but realized that the dirt now filled his mouth as Darkstripe shoved him further into the earth.

“Oh, but you have eyes like your mother. He never cared for her, because she left him too. Betrayed him. As you soon will.”

“What?” Hawkfrost wanted to ask. But there was no air, and his voice was gone. His head started to throb. Everything ached, and was numb.

“Oh, yes!” Darkstripe sneered in his ear. “You ran off from me because you were so upset about your petty little relationship with your father you decided to run away. After you tripped and fell face first into the dirt, you died from lack of air.”

“But how will you explain my twisted up arms?” Hawkfrost mumbled into the dirt. Darkstripe grinned.

“Oh, and your twig-like arms? You tumbled.” Hawkfrost could not see why that would be an eligible excuse, but he couldn’t think straight. His air supply was finally dying, along with him. He also could not see why Darkstripe called his arms “twigs”. But then again, he couldn’t see anything but black as he faded into a great darkness, only hearing Darkstripe’s soft snickers above him.

Tigerstar sighed as Thistleclaw chased Mapleshade back into the clearing. His mentor finally gave up, sitting down on his haunches. Mapleshade purred.

“What, am I too fast for you, tom?” The she-cat trotted over to Thistleclaw, teasing his ear with her tail.

Thistleclaw panted, and glared at the she-cat, though it was not as fierce a glare as before.

“You should have been in Windclan if you can run like that.” Thistleclaw batted her tail away with his. Soon, the two were engaged in a full-on tail slapping fight. Brokenstar winked at Tigerstar.

“I telled ya, didn’t I?” Brokenstar growled playfully as he too ran over to whack his tail against Mapleshade’s and Thistleclaw’s heads. “Fear me, and my fleas!”

Mapleshade and Thistleclaw dispersed in different directions, for it was true that Brokenstar carried fleas. Both cats began to check their pelts in search of the vile little beasts. Tigerstar sighed, and padded over to the rock his son had shoved him off of.

He leaped onto a stone near the rock, then jumped on the boulder itself. The surface was cold, but thankfully Tigerstar had thick fur. He settled down on the rock, watching his Clanmates play like kits. He laid his head down on the rock, and scented his own sweet scent mixed with his son’s. He raised up his head.

Where was Hawkfrost anyway? Oh right, he was training with Darkstripe. Tigerstar set his head back down on his paws. It was the day of their battle, and they were playing like kits! If he wanted Hawkfrost to have a fleeting chance of happiness, he should at least be trying to win this thing. He stood, and shook out his pelt. He could go find Hawkfrost and Darkstripe to help them with difficult moves.

He leaped off of the rock swiftly, and carried himself into the bushes. His Clanmates did not notice. He sniffed the air. When he found his son’s sweet fresh water scent mingled with Darkstripe’s, he followed it. As he advanced forward, he heard panting in front of him. He stopped and saw Darkstripe tearing across the bare earth. Wait, where was Hawkfrost?

“Darkstripe!” Tigerstar called out, the sound of his voice stopping the dark gray tabby in his tracks. “Where’s Hawkfrost?”

“Tigerstar! It’s terrible!” Darkstripe’s eyes were wide, and somewhat scared. “I found him!”

“But you were with him,” Tigerstar took a step forward. Darkstripe panted a little, and shook his head.

“Not the whole time. See, he said that he wanted to go check something out. He was acting really weird the whole time since you both came back. Next thing I knew, I heard a scream, and I ran to him. He was face down in the dirt, unconscious.”

“What?!” Tigerstar’s fur stood on end, and he stared into the distance, where Darkstripe came from. “Show me where he is, now.”

Darkstripe’s eyes widened, and he nodded solemnly. He raced off back to where he was, and Tigerstar tore off after him. Darkstripe led him right to the place where the ferns poked up from the ground. Also jutting out of the ground was the body of Hawkfrost, limp and unmoving. Tigerstar ran over to his son.

“Hawky! Hawky, wake up!” Tigerstar prodded his son’s side. Hawkfrost said nothing, did nothing. Tigerstar was beginning to get anxious. “Hawky!”

He unsheathed one paw and poked his son’s ear. Usually, that would get Hawkfrost’s attention. But the younger tom didn’t stir. Tigerstar took Hawkfrost by the scruff, his sun-colored eyes flashing wildly. He dragged his son’s head out of the dirt. Hawkfrost’s blue eyes were blissfully closed, and for once, he looked peaceful. Tigerstar looked back at Darkstripe.

“He can’t be dead! He hasn’t faded!” Darkstripe just looked back sadly. “Darkstripe, how did this happen?”

“I don’t know,” The dark gray tabby muttered, averting his gaze. “I just found him in the ground like that, half dead.”

Tigerstar stared at his son and then at the misty border. He glared at it.

“Darkstripe, gather the others. We’re going to make a little visit to our neighbors.”

Darkstripe’s eyes widened.

“But we’re not allowed in Starclan territory-” Tigerstar whipped around to face him, neck fur rising up.

“And they are not allowed to murder MY son unpunished! NOW GO!”

Darkstripe squeaked, and raced into the shadows to retrieve the others. Meanwhile, Tigerstar looked back to the border, and across it. There was about to be a war. His eyes glowed fiercely, his whiskers twitched as every sense in him came to life. Yes, a lovely war. And they had awakened a monster inside of him, that thing inside of him that made every emotion stronger and deadlier. And little did they know, they were in for quite a visit.

Later, when Darkstripe returned with Mapleshade, Brokenstar, and Thistleclaw, Tigerstar was pacing along the border, eyes narrowed in outrage. They dared do this to his son! They would get it, he would make sure of that! He stopped pacing to face his group, tail lashing. He pointed at Hawkfrost with a paw.

“We are going over to the Starclan border!” Mapleshade’s eyes widened when she saw the broken Hawkfrost, half-dead on the ground. She headed over to sniff at him.

“They did this?!” The she-cat’s black, orange, and white fur fluffed up, making her look three times her size. Thistleclaw peered down at Hawkfrost too.

“Did you smell any Starclan before making assumptions?”

Tigerstar’s tail stopped swishing around.

“Well, I did see Goldenflower here earlier. I think she was spying.” Mapleshade was nuzzling Hawkfrost, but with no success of the young tom waking up. Her amber eyes were wide and sad.

“No…” She whispered, pressing her muzzle deeper into Hawkfrost’s fur. Thistleclaw padded up beside her to stroke her shoulder with his tail. Mapleshade slapped his touch away.

“Don’t touch me!” The she-cat snapped, lying down to curl her body around Hawkfrost’s. The gray-and-white tom took a step back, his anxious gaze flickering to Tigerstar.

“That’s not enough proof, Tiger. We can’t just barge in there like that.” Tigerstar glared at Thistleclaw, claws unsheathing.

“And since when did you care about logical explanations?” Tigerstar challenged. Thistleclaw glanced towards Mapleshade.

“Since I don’t want my Clanmates to get hurt.” The tom replied, staring down at his paws in embarrassment.

Tigerstar stared at Thistleclaw too. His mentor was acting like this over a she-cat? At least it wasn’t as bad as Bluestar’s stupid sister, Snowfur. He glared at Thistleclaw now.

“Well, they hurt Hawkfrost!” He protested. Thistleclaw shook his head slowly.

“I’m not doing it.” Brokenstar walked up to Hawkfrost too, observing him.

“I’m not going. I could try to fix this whippersnapper right up. It’s almost like he inhaled the bloody dirt.”

Brokenstar stared into Hawkfrost’s dirt covered face hard. Tigerstar looked at his group.

“So none of you furballs are coming?!” His dark brown pelt fluffed out in rage. Darkstripe looked around, then padded forward timidly.

“I’ll go with you. Hawkfrost might not be able to fight later, and they probably just wanted to keep him from the battle field.”

Tigerstar flicked his tail in satisfaction. At least one loyal cat was on his side. He stalked toward the border, Darkstripe padding along beside him. The dark brown tabby sucked in a deep breath, and stepped through the mist of the border. Darkstripe hesitated for a split second, but Tigerstar quickly snagged his former apprentice’s paw and dragged him across the border.

On the other side, Tigerstar had to squint his eyes shut. It was so bright. Everything glittered and gleamed, making Tigerstar and his companion look like clods of dirt. Not to be confused with the earth that trees grow in. A brook bubbled happily, and the skies flashed with auroras. Tigerstar finally adjusted to the light and beckoned to Darkstripe.

“Come on,” Tigerstar began to pad forward. “I have a good idea who’s in charge here.”

Darkstripe gulped and followed Tigerstar, slouching as he walked. As the two made their way through the territory, the kits and the queens gaped at them in fear.

“It’s Tigerstar!” One queen called out, her voice high-pitched and shrill. “Get Bluestar! Or Yellowfang! Or Spottedleaf! Help! He’s going to hurt the kits!”

“Excuse me,” Tigerstar hissed, making the queens leap back in surprise. “But that’s Broken’s thing. You want to have a dead kit, go see him.”

“Yeah. That guy loves small dead bodies.” Darkstripe sniggered, purring in dark amusement. “I remember when he took the dead body of a kit and played with it all day. He was being kind of cute.”

The queens sat there, horrified, while Tigerstar and Darkstripe trekked onward. They didn’t get very far before two Starclan warriors leaped in front of them.

“Halt!” One of them growled, his fur fluffing up. “You don’t belong in Starclan territory. Leave.”

Tigerstar recognized the silent warrior, and his shimmering white pelt.

“Greetings, Whitestorm.” Whitestorm’s bright yellow eyes widened, and he looked away, as if he could not believe that this Dark Forest cat used to be his best friend. Tigerstar rolled his eyes.

“Now, that really hurts. You spend one day in Starclan and you can’t remember that time when we put red ants in Lionheart’s nest. Wow.”

The other warrior, who just happened to be Lionheart, turned to face Whitestorm.

“So that was you and that wily murderer!” Lionheart leaped on top of Whitestorm, snarling. “Now I don’t get mad about a lot of things, but those things seriously hurt!”

The two toms rolled out of the way in a flurry of claws, teeth, and fur. Tigerstar smirked.

“Ah, good times.” He tapped his tail on the distracted Darkstripe’s shoulder, and they walked along. They passed many trees and streams and fields until two warriors finally stalked up to them.

“Tigerstar!” One of them growled, unsheathing her claws. She crouched into a ready battle stance, blue-gray fur fluffed. “What are you doing here?”

“What does it look like I’m doing?” Tigerstar snapped, not in the mood for typical questions. The she-cat glanced at him and Darkstripe.

“Are you sightseeing?” She snarled, taking a step forward, still low to the ground. Tigerstar sat on his haunches and blinked down at her, bored.

“No, I am not sightseeing. You do not even know if I intend to fight, yet you’re in a stance. If you jump on me, you started it. Not me, Bluestar.”

Bluestar shared a glance with the cat next to her, Spottedleaf.

“Then why are you here?” Spottedleaf asked in her soft voice. Tigerstar dipped his head and Darkstripe looked on, confused at why his leader was not ripping these cats to shreds.

“I am here because I have seen some of your territory now. It is only fitting if you see mine.”

“Tigerstar, are you trying to show us something?” Spottedleaf asked, her sweet scent flooding the air. “If so, why should we trust you? You killed my brother!”

“Correction. He was my uncle too. I didn’t know at the time, but since I’m dead I’ve done research.” Tigerstar licked his paw calmly, staring back at his aunt. He stared at her neck. “And yes, I would like to show you something.”

“What is it?” Bluestar eased forward again. Tigerstar glared at her, a fierce angry glare, and his claws unsheathed.

“It is not an it, but a who. Just like whoever you sent over the border to try to murder my son!”

Tigerstar lashed at Bluestar’s face with his claws, anger nearly blinding him. Spottedleaf gasped as Darkstripe tackled her, getting the drift.

“What did you do to him?!” Tigerstar tackled Bluestar as well, and pinned her on the ground below him. Ha, her attempts had been so feeble.

Bluestar struggled underneath Tigerstar, wriggling helplessly.

“We didn’t do anything! We didn’t send anybody!” Tigerstar pushed her shoulders down.

“Then why was Goldenflower exploring over my border? I saw her, and she knew I was there!”

Tigerstar growled, his sun-colored eyes lighting up with rage. Bluestar looked up at him, a flash of fear in her eyes.

“We did not send her! Goldenflower, she probably thought she saw a talking plant! She thinks those things communicate with the sun.”

Tigerstar shook his head to clear the haze, and glanced over at Darkstripe, who was sitting on Spottedleaf, flicking his tail in her face playfully.

“Darkstripe, get off of her and stop that foolish nonsense! I never told you to do that.” Tigerstar snapped as he hopped off Bluestar.

Darkstripe rolled off of Spottedleaf, leaving her gasping on the ground. He gave her a small smile, waggling his flanks. Spottedleaf’s eyes widened, and she scooted behind Bluestar, who had risen to her feet.

“What is this about somecat trying to kill your son?” Bluestar asked, narrowing her eyes. Tigerstar looked away.

“It’s nothing.” He flicked his tail for Darkstripe to come to his side and turned to leave. He started to pad away until he noticed that two sets of pawsteps were sounding behind him. He looked over his shoulder and glimpsed Bluestar and Spottedleaf.

“What do you want?” The dark brown tabby asked as he walked onward. They were almost to the border. Bluestar padded up to his side to face him.

“We want to see what happened to your son. Spottedleaf was a medicine cat.”

Tigerstar tensed. Spottedleaf had gotten killed in a battle that he caused. If she laid one claw on his son, he was going to FLIP OUT.

“Absolutely not.” Tigerstar stalked forward, Darkstripe doing the same. Spottedleaf nodded to Bluestar and she took the gray she-cat’s place on Tigerstar’s right side.

“You’re troubled.” The tortoiseshell mewed in her soft, sweet voice.

Tigerstar pressed his lips into a straight line nervously. Were his thoughts that easy to read when he was upset? Spottedleaf walked closer to him.

“I can understand if you’re worried. You’re his father.” Tigerstar veered away from Spottedleaf to step right next to the border. The she-cat’s still followed.

“I can help him. Let me see what’s wrong with him.” Spottedleaf blinked up at Tigerstar. “He might be in a grave condition if you’re this worried.”

“I am not worried. I just want this to be made right.” The hulking tabby squared his shoulders. Spottedleaf’s soft amber eyes glowed right through his mask.

“Of course. I’m not holding a grudge with you right now, Tigerstar. I just want to help.”

“And I just want to not kill Brambleclaw because he killed Hawkfrost too,” Tigerstar muttered sarcastically. Spottedleaf perked her ears.

“Hmm?”

Tigerstar looked away.

“Uh, nothing.” They reached the misty border by the time Tigerstar and Spottedleaf had ended their conversation. Bluestar gave Tigerstar a glare and stepped to the side.

“Why don’t you both go first. It is your territory after all.” Tigerstar narrowed his sun-colored eyes and sniffed, guiding Darkstripe with his tail behind him.

The leader passed through the borders, Bluestar and Spottedleaf tailing him. The spot where Hawkfrost had practically been drowned in the soil was right and front of them, as well as the cats Tigerstar had left behind. Mapleshade stiffened next to the body of his son.

“What are they doing here?” She growled, standing to her feet. Spottedleaf gasped when she saw Hawkfrost’s body and ran over to it.

“Oh, this is serious!”

Mapleshade blocked the other tortoiseshell’s way with her body and showed two rows of sharp white teeth.

“Don’t you touch him, you excuse for a-” Tigerstar glared right at Mapleshade from where she was.

“Are you a medicine cat, Mapleshade?” He asked, warning hinting in his snarl. Mapleshade’s amber eyes glinted like stars in the night, and she grinned evilly.

“No. But I killed one.” She straightened, fluffing out her fur as she glowered down at Spottedleaf. “And I’m ready to kill another.”

“Technically, that was murder if it was intentional. So step aside.” Tigerstar mewed, showing his talon-like claws to his Clanmate. Mapleshade rolled her eyes and stepped closer to Thistleclaw as Spottedleaf padded forward to examine Hawkfrost.

“He’s inhaled some dirt in his nose and mouth,” The Starclan cat murmured, as soft tiny stars falling off of her pelt and dissolving on Hawkfrost’s shadowy fur.

“He’s not moving,” Mapleshade snapped, her voice betraying moons of worry. “I can’t tell if he’s breathing either.”

As Thistleclaw moved over to rest his tail on Mapleshade’s shoulder, Spottedleaf nodded studiously. Tigerstar was itching with multiple feelings, worry for his son, indescribable rage for whoever did this, and a deep fear. Hawkfrost was all he had. He was all Hawkfrost had. How would he fare with this, if Hawkfrost actually… faded away. Tigerstar choked on the unspoken words, and began to pace quickly. Hawkfrost had to get better!

“Well, can you fix him?” Tigerstar asked, managing to keep his voice steady. Spottedleaf sighed, and her amber gaze focused on Tigerstar.

“He’s in a coma. It’s a wonder he’s not dead. I’ll need to scoop the dirt out of his mouth with my paws, and at the end, I’ll need you to pump his stomach to make sure all of the dirt is out of his throat. But we must do it before he fades.”

Bluestar shifted disapprovingly, steely blue eyes angry.

“Spottedleaf, you know we are taking a risk by helping the enemy.” Spottedleaf glared at Hawkfrost’s body, annoyance coming off of her pelt in furious waves.

“Did you ever have a kit, Bluestar? Did you ever worry yourself sick about them?” Tigerstar took a small step back. Spottedleaf was empathizing with him perfectly, but right now he just cared about getting his son back to normal.

“Just fix him already!” Tigerstar yowled, claws working out of their sheathes. Spottedleaf nodded, and beckoned Tigerstar to her with her tail.

“Open up his jaws, and I can scoop the dirt out…”

Hawkfrost jolted awake, coughing and sputtering. His head throbbed and his paws felt as if they were weighted with boulders. He was lying on his side, his fur rugged and dirty. The tabby moaned loudly, and pawing at the ground.

“Mom! I think he’s waking up.” A low voice rumbled beside him.

Hawkfrost perked his ears. This voice seemed familiar to him. A paw prodded his belly, and a she-cat’s voice sounded.

“Hawk? It is him! He’s… dead like us.” This voice sounded just as familiar.

Hawkfrost struggled to open his eyes, and he caught a glimpse of a she-cat’s figure and a bulky tom, almost as huge as his father. He blinked at the slight light that shone in his face. In the Dark Forest, all that glowed were those nasty tasting fungi. He could not see many of the she-cat’s features or the tom’s to recognize them. He unsheathed his claws, and let out a hiss, though it sounded more pained than fierce.

“Get – away!” The she-cat and tom did not move an inch.

“Shush, you’re hurt.” The she-cat snapped, slapping one of the brown tabby’s unsheathed paw with one of her own. “Do not use that tone of voice with me.”

“Mom,” The tom peered close into Hawkfrost’s face. “He probably doesn’t even remember us.”

“I don’t care. I’m still his mother.” The she-cat frowned, reaching out a tawny paw to stroke Hawkfrost’s cheek.

_What? His mother?_ Hawkfrost opened his eyes fully and finally, he recognized the dark and tan markings on the she-cat and the dark gray tomcat.

“Sasha…?" His blue eyes widened. "Tadpole?”


	2. Review (really just me talking) of: Tigerdad Chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's gooooooooooooooo
> 
> Again, this was inspired by MageWolf!
> 
> hopefully they don't mind

Hawkfrost felt more tears soak the dirt as Darkstripe yanked on his other paw, twisting it, and dislocating his arm in the process. When the arm popped out, Hawkfrost could see flashes of white against his eyelids.

**Two sentences, two sights of the word "Hawkfrost". That's repetitive. Two sentences, and I'm aLREADY-**

Darkstripe pushed his head even deeper into the dust.

“Shut up!” Hawkfrost silenced his whimpers. He was running out of air to whimper with. **IDK why I've always loved that sentence** Darkstripe purred, not a delightful happy purr, but a dark purr that vibrated throughout Hawkfrost’s back.

“Hee hee! ***busts out laughing* Honey, is that your WORST evil laugh? You better go back to villian school** I’m not going to leave any claw marks either.”

Rage built up inside of Hawkfrost, even worse than the emotions he felt over Brambleclaw. But Hawkfrost couldn’t feel his claws to unleash them, so he just writhed in silent rage. Darkstripe smiled.

“And this scent? This is Goldenflower, Tigerstar’s last mate. She was Brambleclaw’s mother.”

Hawkfrost stiffened. _Brambleclaw’s mother? What about HIS mother? What about Sasha? Didn’t Tigerstar love her? Didn’t they love each other?_

“You liar!” Hawkfrost screeched, thought the screeches were getting weak from the lack of oxygen. He lashed his tail in anger. “You're lying!” 

Though his voice was muffled by the dirt, you **AH AH AH what is second person doing in here?! I'm getting even more upset at... well, myself.** could get a vague idea of the words he was yelling. Darkstripe purred again, pressing down on Hawkfrost’s tail in an almost playful manner. 

“Lying? No, it’s true. And he loved Bramblekit because he looked like him.” **Darkstripe is so dumb here. One can tell I used to hate him soooo much**

“I look like him too!” Hawkfrost wanted to shout, but realized that the dirt now filled his mouth as Darkstripe shoved him further into the earth.

“Oh, but you have eyes like your mother. **boi what.... what the LITERAL CAKE DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING JUST KILL HIM IF YOU'RE GOING TO KILL HIM GOLLY** He never cared for her, because she left him too. Betrayed him. As you soon will.”

“What?” Hawkfrost wanted to ask. But there was no air, and his voice was gone. His head started to throb. Everything ached, and was numb.

“Oh, yes!” Darkstripe sneered in his ear. “You ran off from me because you were so upset about your petty little relationship with your father you decided to run away. After you tripped and fell face first into the dirt, you died from lack of air.” **...boy you stupid.**

“But how will you explain my twisted up arms?” Hawkfrost mumbled into the dirt. **Good question** Darkstripe grinned.

“Oh, and your twig-like arms? You tumbled.” Hawkfrost could not see why that would be an eligible excuse, but he couldn’t think straight. His air supply was finally dying, along with him. He also could not see why Darkstripe called his arms “twigs”. **he did that just to be mean *cups Hawk's face* but ignore him baby** But then again, he couldn’t see anything but black as he faded into a great darkness, only hearing Darkstripe’s soft snickers above him.

Tigerstar sighed as Thistleclaw chased Mapleshade back into the clearing. His mentor finally gave up, sitting down on his haunches. Mapleshade purred.

“What, am I too fast for you, tom?” The she-cat trotted over to Thistleclaw, teasing his ear with her tail. **ooooooo here comes to terrible flirting paaaaarrrt**

Thistleclaw panted, and glared at the she-cat, though it was not as fierce a glare as before.

“You should have been in Windclan if you can run like that.” Thistleclaw batted her tail away with his. Soon, the two were engaged in a full-on tail slapping fight. Brokenstar winked at Tigerstar.

“I telled ya, didn’t I?” **Earlier in this train wreck, Brokenstar knew early on these two were... a thingy.** Brokenstar growled playfully as he too ran over to whack his tail against Mapleshade’s and Thistleclaw’s heads. “Fear me, and my fleas!” 

Mapleshade and Thistleclaw dispersed in different directions, for it was true that Brokenstar carried fleas. Both cats began to check their pelts in search of the vile little beasts. Tigerstar sighed, and padded over to the rock his son had shoved him off of.

He leaped onto a stone near the rock, then jumped on the boulder itself. The surface was cold, but thankfully Tigerstar had thick fur. He settled down on the rock, watching his Clanmates play like kits. He laid his head down on the rock, and scented his own sweet scent mixed with his son’s. He raised up his head.

Where was Hawkfrost anyway? Oh right, he was training with Darkstripe. Tigerstar set his head back down on his paws. It was the day of their battle, and they were playing like kits! If he wanted Hawkfrost to have a fleeting chance of happiness, he should at least be trying to win this thing.

**Also earlier Hawk had confronted his dad about "not being happy here" and stuff like that**

He stood, and shook out his pelt. He could go find Hawkfrost and Darkstripe to help them with difficult moves. **Them two grown behind men they don't need your- wait nevermind Hawk is a child here**

He leaped off of the rock swiftly, and carried himself into the bushes. His Clanmates did not notice. He sniffed the air. When he found his son’s sweet fresh water scent mingled with Darkstripe’s, he followed it. As he advanced forward, he heard panting in front of him. He stopped and saw Darkstripe tearing across the bare earth. Wait, where was Hawkfrost?

“Darkstripe!” Tigerstar called out, the sound of his voice stopping the dark gray tabby in his tracks. “Where’s Hawkfrost?”

“Tigerstar! It’s terrible!” Darkstripe’s eyes were wide, and somewhat scared. **prolly scared cause he know Tiger's going to rip him in half once he finds out** “I found him!”

“But you were with him,” Tigerstar took a step forward. Darkstripe panted a little, and shook his head.

“Not the whole time. See, he said that he wanted to go check something out. He was acting really weird the whole time since you both came back. Next thing I knew, I heard a scream, and I ran to him. He was face down in the dirt, unconscious.”

**That is some bull- *takes cautious glance at relative* uh i mean cake scraps! Tiger don't believe this fool-**

“What?!” Tigerstar’s fur stood on end, and he stared into the distance, where Darkstripe came from. “Show me where he is, now.”

Darkstripe’s eyes widened, and he nodded solemnly. He raced off back to where he was, and Tigerstar tore off after him. Darkstripe led him right to the place where the ferns poked up from the ground. Also jutting out of the ground was the body of Hawkfrost, limp and unmoving. Tigerstar ran over to his son.

“Hawky! **aaaaahhhhhh i missed the hawky YES I need more hawkies** Hawky, wake up!” Tigerstar prodded his son’s side. Hawkfrost said nothing, did nothing. Tigerstar was beginning to get anxious. “Hawky!”

He unsheathed one paw and poked his son’s ear. Usually, that would get Hawkfrost’s attention. But the younger tom didn’t stir. Tigerstar took Hawkfrost by the scruff, his sun-colored ***scribbles down eye color before I forget*** eyes flashing wildly. He dragged his son’s head out of the dirt. Hawkfrost’s blue eyes were blissfully closed, and for once, he looked peaceful. Tigerstar looked back at Darkstripe.

“He can’t be dead! He hasn’t faded!” Darkstripe just looked back sadly. **Don't try to act all innocent now** “Darkstripe, how did this happen?”

“I don’t know,” The dark gray tabby muttered, averting his gaze. “I just found him in the ground like that, half dead.”

Tigerstar stared at his son and then at the misty border. He glared at it. ***imitates squint***

“Darkstripe, gather the others. We’re going to make a little visit to our neighbors.”

Darkstripe’s eyes widened.

“But we’re not allowed in Starclan territory-” Tigerstar whipped around to face him, neck fur rising up.

“And they are not allowed to murder MY son unpunished! NOW GO!” **Dat's wite dat's wite go avenge your son cupcake boy**

Darkstripe squeaked, and raced into the shadows to retrieve the others. Meanwhile, Tigerstar looked back to the border, and across it. There was about to be a war. His eyes glowed fiercely, his whiskers twitched as every sense in him came to life. Yes, a lovely war. And they had awakened a monster inside of him, that thing inside of him that made every emotion stronger and deadlier. And little did they know, they were in for quite a visit.

**Oh boyo me excite**

Later, when Darkstripe returned with Mapleshade, Brokenstar, and Thistleclaw, Tigerstar was pacing along the border, eyes narrowed in outrage. They dared do this to his son! They would get it, he would make sure of that! He stopped pacing to face his group, tail lashing. He pointed at Hawkfrost with a paw.

“We are going over to the Starclan border!” Mapleshade’s eyes widened when she saw the broken Hawkfrost, half-dead on the ground. She headed over to sniff at him.

**Maple-mom?**

“They did this?!” The she-cat’s black, orange, and white fur fluffed up, making her look three times her size. Thistleclaw peered down at Hawkfrost too.

“Did you smell any Starclan before making assumptions?”

**Shut up Thistle**

Tigerstar’s tail stopped swishing around.

“Well, I did see Goldenflower here earlier. I think she was spying.” Mapleshade was nuzzling Hawkfrost, but with no success of the young tom waking up. Her amber eyes were wide and sad.

“No…” She whispered, pressing her muzzle deeper into Hawkfrost’s fur. Thistleclaw padded up beside her to stroke her shoulder with his tail. Mapleshade slapped his touch away.

“Don’t touch me!” The she-cat snapped, lying down to curl her body around Hawkfrost’s. The gray-and-white tom took a step back, his anxious gaze flickering to Tigerstar.

**Maple-mom. I'm sorry, but I used to like it before people brought up how terrible she was to Crookedstar also this was probably before I read Crooked's SE**

“That’s not enough proof, Tiger. We can’t just barge in there like that.” Tigerstar glared at Thistleclaw, claws unsheathing.

“And since when did you care about logical explanations?” Tigerstar challenged. **YES! THANK YOU TIGER because when DID Thistleclaw ever care about anything he just too OOC** Thistleclaw glanced towards Mapleshade.

“Since I don’t want my Clanmates to get hurt.” The tom replied, staring down at his paws in embarrassment. **aw boo hoo you prickly-furred pussy cat...**

Tigerstar stared at Thistleclaw too. His mentor was acting like this over a she-cat? **IKR** At least it wasn’t as bad as Bluestar’s stupid sister, Snowfur. He glared at Thistleclaw now.

“Well, they hurt Hawkfrost!” He protested. **Dat's right that's reason enough** Thistleclaw shook his head slowly.

“I’m not doing it.” Brokenstar walked up to Hawkfrost too, observing him. **What**

“I’m not going. I could try to fix this whippersnapper right up. It’s almost like he inhaled the bloody dirt.” **You-y-you- *pinches nose* bro you not no medicine cat so exPL _ain_ to me**

Brokenstar stared into Hawkfrost’s dirt covered face hard. **ack *pulls out spray bottle* stop it. stop looking hard.** Tigerstar looked at his group.

“So none of you furballs are coming?!” His dark brown pelt fluffed out in rage. Darkstripe looked around, then padded forward timidly.

“I’ll go with you. Hawkfrost might not be able to fight later, and they probably just wanted to keep him from the battle field.”

Tigerstar flicked his tail in satisfaction. At least one loyal cat was on his side. **good grief.** He stalked toward the border, Darkstripe padding along beside him. The dark brown tabby sucked in a deep breath, and stepped through the mist of the border. Darkstripe hesitated for a split second, but Tigerstar quickly snagged his former apprentice’s paw and dragged him across the border. **You did this, you follow him**

On the other side, Tigerstar had to squint his eyes shut. It was so bright. Everything glittered and gleamed, making Tigerstar and his companion look like clods of dirt. Not to be confused with the earth that trees grow in. A brook bubbled happily, and the skies flashed with auroras. Tigerstar finally adjusted to the light and beckoned to Darkstripe.

“Come on,” Tigerstar began to pad forward. “I have a good idea who’s in charge here.”

Darkstripe gulped and followed Tigerstar, slouching as he walked. As the two made their way through the territory, the kits and the queens gaped at them in fear.

“It’s Tigerstar!” One queen called out, her voice high-pitched and shrill. “Get Bluestar! Or Yellowfang! Or Spottedleaf! Help! He’s going to hurt the kits!”

“Excuse me,” Tigerstar hissed, making the queens leap back in surprise. “But that’s Broken’s thing. You want to have a dead kit, go see him.”

“Yeah. That guy loves small dead bodies.” Darkstripe sniggered, purring in dark amusement. “I remember when he took the dead body of a kit and played with it all day. He was being kind of cute.”

**...why**

**actually why am i asking why i still sometimes do stuff like this**

The queens sat there, horrified, while Tigerstar and Darkstripe trekked onward. They didn’t get very far before two Starclan warriors leaped in front of them.

“Halt!” One of them growled, his fur fluffing up. “You don’t belong in Starclan territory. Leave.”

Tigerstar recognized the silent warrior, and his shimmering white pelt.

“Greetings, Whitestorm.” Whitestorm’s bright yellow eyes widened, and he looked away, as if he could not believe that this Dark Forest cat used to be his best friend. **AND YOU USED TO CUDDLE WITH HIM AND EVERYTHING ELSE BEST CAT FRIENDS DO** Tigerstar rolled his eyes.

“Now, that really hurts. You spend one day in Starclan and you can’t remember that time when we put red ants in Lionheart’s nest. Wow.”

The other warrior, who just happened to be Lionheart, turned to face Whitestorm.

“So that was you and that wily murderer!” Lionheart leaped on top of Whitestorm, snarling. “Now I don’t get mad about a lot of things, but those things seriously hurt!”

The two toms rolled out of the way in a flurry of claws, teeth, and fur. Tigerstar smirked.

“Ah, good times.” **Yeah, I still love that part...** He tapped his tail on the distracted Darkstripe’s shoulder, and they walked along. They passed many trees and streams and fields until two warriors finally stalked up to them.

“Tigerstar!” One of them growled, unsheathing her claws. She crouched into a ready battle stance, blue-gray fur fluffed. “What are you doing here?”

“What does it look like I’m doing?” Tigerstar snapped, not in the mood for typical questions. The she-cat glanced at him and Darkstripe.

“Are you sightseeing?” She snarled, taking a step forward, still low to the ground. Tigerstar sat on his haunches and blinked down at her, bored.

“No, I am not sightseeing. You do not even know if I intend to fight, yet you’re in a stance. If you jump on me, you started it. Not me, Bluestar.” **Dude did you FORGET you tried to kill her and you killed her deputy and a lot of other folks??**

Bluestar shared a glance with the cat next to her, Spottedleaf.

“Then why are you here?” Spottedleaf asked in her soft voice. Tigerstar dipped his head and Darkstripe looked on, confused at why his leader was not ripping these cats to shreds.

“I am here because I have seen some of your territory now. It is only fitting if you see mine.” ***slams hand down* Bad writing. Bad bad bad stop why are you doing this**

“Tigerstar, are you trying to show us something?” Spottedleaf asked, her sweet scent flooding the air. “If so, why should we trust you? You killed my brother!”

“Correction. **the hecc are you correcting her for** He was my uncle too **no need for "correction" if both things are true**. I didn’t know at the time, but since I’m dead I’ve done research.” Tigerstar licked his paw calmly, staring back at his aunt. He stared at her neck. **uh assuming that there's probably a wound there** “And yes, I would like to show you something.”

“What is it?” Bluestar eased forward again. Tigerstar glared at her, a fierce angry glare **i guess that is what a glare is** , and his claws unsheathed.

“It is not an it, but a who. Just like whoever you sent over the border to try to murder my son!” **i dislike this line greatly**

Tigerstar lashed at Bluestar’s face with his claws, anger nearly blinding him. Spottedleaf gasped as Darkstripe tackled her, getting the drift.

“What did you do to him?!” Tigerstar tackled Bluestar as well, and pinned her on the ground below him. Ha, her attempts had been so feeble. **This makes no sense, but I probably just didn't feel like writing a fighting scene. Either that or I really, REALLY wanted Tiger to win**

Bluestar struggled underneath Tigerstar, wriggling helplessly.

“We didn’t do anything! We didn’t send anybody!” Tigerstar pushed her shoulders down.

“Then why was Goldenflower exploring over my border? I saw her, and she knew I was there!” **she was. she was looking at a plant though not for you**

Tigerstar growled, his sun-colored eyes lighting up with rage. Bluestar looked up at him, a flash of fear in her eyes. **OOC of her to be afraid i think**

“We did not send her! Goldenflower, she probably thought she saw a talking plant! She thinks those things communicate with the sun.” **And perhaps plants do. Sunflowers rotate to get more sunlight so... could be happening**

Tigerstar shook his head to clear the haze **was he in lionblaze mode?? *gasp* oh my Stars he was...** , and glanced over at Darkstripe, who was sitting on Spottedleaf, flicking his tail in her face playfully.

“Darkstripe, get off of her and stop that foolish nonsense! I never told you to do that.” Tigerstar snapped as he hopped off Bluestar.

Darkstripe rolled off of Spottedleaf, leaving her gasping on the ground. He gave her a small smile, waggling his flanks. Spottedleaf’s eyes widened, and she scooted behind Bluestar, who had risen to her feet.

“What is this about somecat trying to kill your son?” Bluestar asked, narrowing her eyes. Tigerstar looked away.

“It’s nothing.” He flicked his tail for Darkstripe to come to his side and turned to leave. He started to pad away until he noticed that two sets of pawsteps were sounding behind him. He looked over his shoulder and glimpsed Bluestar and Spottedleaf. **Roadtrip! Roadtrip past the border! OH YEAH**

“What do you want?” The dark brown tabby asked as he walked onward. They were almost to the border. Bluestar padded up to his side to face him.

“We want to see what happened to your son. Spottedleaf was a medicine cat.”

Tigerstar tensed. Spottedleaf had gotten killed in a battle that he caused. If she laid one claw on his son, he was going to FLIP OUT. **so we have a gymnastics boy here!**

“Absolutely not.” Tigerstar stalked forward, Darkstripe doing the same. Spottedleaf nodded to Bluestar and she took the gray she-cat’s place on Tigerstar’s right side.

“You’re troubled.” The tortoiseshell mewed in her soft, sweet voice. **yeah no sheetcake**

Tigerstar pressed his lips into a straight line nervously. Were his thoughts that easy to read when he was upset? Spottedleaf walked closer to him.

“I can understand if you’re worried. You’re his father.” Tigerstar veered away from Spottedleaf to step right next to the border. The she-cat’s still followed.

**shecat's**

**'s**

**OOOOOO THAT'S IT I'VE HAD IT WITH OLD ME MAKING ERRORS**

***continues to slurp water calmly* anyways let's move on this taking all day**

“I can help him. Let me see what’s wrong with him.” Spottedleaf blinked up at Tigerstar. “He might be in a grave condition if you’re this worried.”

“I am not worried. I just want this to be made right.” The hulking tabby squared his shoulders. Spottedleaf’s soft amber eyes glowed right through his mask. **Hmm... I think that's a nice description.**

“Of course. I’m not holding a grudge with you right now, Tigerstar. I just want to help.”

“And I just want to not kill Brambleclaw because he killed Hawkfrost too,” Tigerstar muttered sarcastically. **boy shut up you would never kill Bramble**

**and even if you tried Fire would beat you into cat tahini paste and spread you on pita with hummus**

Spottedleaf perked her ears.

“Hmm?”

Tigerstar looked away.

“Uh, nothing.” They reached the misty border by the time Tigerstar and Spottedleaf had ended their conversation. Bluestar gave Tigerstar a glare and stepped to the side.

“Why don’t you both go first. It is your territory after all.” Tigerstar narrowed his sun-colored eyes and sniffed, guiding Darkstripe with his tail behind him.

The leader passed through the borders, Bluestar and Spottedleaf tailing him. The spot where Hawkfrost had practically been drowned in the soil was right and **another error i swear i have no patience for old me** front of them, as well as the cats Tigerstar had left behind. Mapleshade stiffened next to the body of his son.

“What are they doing here?” She growled, standing to her feet. Spottedleaf gasped when she saw Hawkfrost’s body and ran over to it.

“Oh, this is serious!” **wow give this woman the observational award of the year**

**oh nevermind i'm being too mean with this**

**she's right it is serious**

Mapleshade blocked the other tortoiseshell’s way with her body and showed two rows of sharp white teeth.

“Don’t you touch him, you excuse for a-” Tigerstar glared right at Mapleshade from where she was.

“Are you a medicine cat, Mapleshade?” He asked, warning hinting in his snarl.

**Tiger: woman MOVE**

Mapleshade’s amber eyes glinted like stars in the night, and she grinned evilly.

“No. But I killed one.” **...when though did she actually?? I don't remember it** She straightened, fluffing out her fur as she glowered down at Spottedleaf. “And I’m ready to kill another.”

“Technically, that was murder if it was intentional. So step aside.” **shut up you know it all** Tigerstar mewed, showing his talon-like claws to his Clanmate. Mapleshade rolled her eyes and stepped closer to Thistleclaw as Spottedleaf padded forward to examine Hawkfrost.

“He’s inhaled some dirt in his nose and mouth,” The Starclan cat murmured, as soft tiny stars falling off of her pelt and dissolving on Hawkfrost’s shadowy fur.

“He’s not moving,” ***slowly claps* observational award of 2020 goes to Maplesyrupmom instead** Mapleshade snapped, her voice betraying _**"** moons of worry_ ** _"_. Woo, yessss I LOVE that **“I can’t tell if he’s breathing either.”

As Thistleclaw moved over to rest his tail on Mapleshade’s shoulder, Spottedleaf nodded studiously. Tigerstar was itching with multiple feelings, worry for his son, indescribable rage for whoever did this, and a deep fear. Hawkfrost was all he had. He was all Hawkfrost had. How would he fare with this, if Hawkfrost actually… faded away. Tigerstar choked on the unspoken words **also so nice** , and began to pace quickly.

Hawkfrost had to get better! **dude he's gonna die in the Great Battle anyways I wouldn't get that worked up if I were you cause you about to kill him yourself**

“Well, can you fix him?” Tigerstar asked, managing to keep his voice steady. Spottedleaf sighed, and her amber gaze focused on Tigerstar.

“He’s in a coma. It’s a wonder he’s not dead. **okay okay we've established that enough for now** I’ll need to scoop the dirt out of his mouth with my paws, and at the end, I’ll need you to pump his stomach to make sure all of the dirt is out of his throat. But we must do it before he fades.” **idk if that will actually work so maybe don't go trying that**

Bluestar shifted disapprovingly, steely blue eyes angry. **Old me needs to use angry a little less. *throws up hands* Just sayin's.**

“Spottedleaf, you know we are taking a risk by helping the enemy.” **Blue you know you didn't have to come, right** Spottedleaf glared at Hawkfrost’s body, annoyance coming off of her pelt in furious waves.

“Did you ever have a kit, Bluestar? Did you ever worry yourself sick about them?”

**Blue: ... ... As a matter of fact-**

Tigerstar took a small step back. Spottedleaf was empathizing with him perfectly, but right now he just cared about getting his son back to normal.

“Just fix him already!” Tigerstar yowled, claws working out of their sheathes. Spottedleaf nodded, and beckoned Tigerstar to her with her tail.

“Open up his jaws, and I can scoop the dirt out…”

Hawkfrost jolted awake, coughing and sputtering.

**YAY! He's alive!... ish**

His head throbbed and his paws felt as if they were weighted with boulders. He was lying on his side, his fur rugged and dirty. The tabby moaned loudly, and pawing at the ground.

“Mom! I think he’s waking up.” A low voice rumbled beside him.

Hawkfrost perked his ears. This voice seemed familiar to him. A paw prodded his ear, and a she-cat’s voice sounded.

“Hawk? It is him! He’s… dead like us.” This voice sounded just as familiar.

Hawkfrost struggled to open his eyes, and he caught a glimpse of a she-cat’s figure and a bulky tom, almost as huge as his father. He blinked at the slight light that shone in his face. In the Dark Forest, all that glowed were those nasty tasting fungi. He could not see many of the she-cat’s features or the tom’s to recognize them. He unsheathed his claws, and let out a hiss, though it sounded more pained than fierce.

“Get – away!” The she-cat and tom did not move an inch.

“Shush, you’re hurt.” The she-cat snapped, slapping one of the brown tabby’s unsheathed paw with one of her own. “Do not use that tone of voice with me.” **gee Hawk sure does get mommed a lot in this**

**and yes mommed shoudl be a verb**

“Mom,” The tom peered close into Hawkfrost’s face. “He probably doesn’t even remember us.”

“I don’t care. I’m still his mother.” The she-cat frowned, reaching out a tawny paw to stroke Hawkfrost’s cheek.

 _What? His mother?_ Hawkfrost opened his eyes fully and finally, he recognized the dark and tan markings on the she-cat and the dark gray tomcat.

“Sasha…?" His blue eyes widened. "Tadpole?”

**okay. so I wrote a whole paragraph at the end, right? Reviewing myself and all of that? Well I accidentally deleted it with a click of a button so I'm just going to probably do it later...**

**Hopefully you found some part of this... semi-enjoyable?? Sorry sorry just talking about old works is so awkward because I was so passionate THEN and when I look back at half of the stuff now... *cringes***


	3. The Princess' Warriors and The Fifty Year Curse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Breezepelt gets the life sucked out of him, he, Jayfeather, and Lionblaze encounter some trouble.
> 
> In the form of a small, seemingly harmless dude.
> 
> Based off of The Princess Bride, a movie I was forced to watch with my relative

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, as a disclaimer, if you see someone with six fingers they're not cursed or anything and don't be mean to them please
> 
> and to anyone with six fingers I'm truly sorry

It was one o’ clock in the morning. Three odd trespassers hurried through the dark halls of a moonlit castle. In the daytime the stone palace was tall, majestic and impressive to look at. But at night, the castle loomed over the village, shedding its gloom on the nearby houses. The organized halls and doors of the castle became a winding, dark labyrinth. Jayfeather trotted into a dark stone hallway that was only lit by the flickering candlelight in his left paw. Shuffling ensued behind him. Jayfeather whirled, and held the candle up high so that its weak light shone in the space. The tabby clutched a dagger in his paw.

“Relax Jay, it’s just us.” A deep voice sounded. _Lionblaze!_ Two figures came into the light one walking, one having to be dragged. One was a golden tabby giant whose amber eyes glinted in the gloom. The other tom had black fur, pain screwing his face as he bumped along the rough stones in the castle floor. Relief flooded through Jayfeather’s veins, but it still didn’t hush that nervous excitement that made his heart thump. Jayfeather breathed a sigh and turned around to face his two comrades. He glared at the huge golden tom.

“Will you hurry up, Lionblaze? The princess won’t save herself!” The golden tom took a step back, his deep voice rumbled in his throat. Reluctantly, Lionblaze picked up the black tom and heaved him on his broad shoulder. The cat jostled on Lionblaze’s shoulder as the giant tabby continued forward. The suspended cat let out a pained groan. Jayfeather rolled his blue eyes.

“Breezepelt, it can’t hurt that much.” Breezepelt glanced up at Jayfeather and growled back.

“Well, YOU try literally getting the life sucked out of you by some devil machine, and try to not feel pain!”

Jayfeather scanned the surroundings with each step to make sure there were no hidden trapdoors or arrows that could drop or impale them at any second.

“We all feel pain Breezepelt. It’s just a matter of if we let that pain dominate us. You are the master of what and how you feel. Control it! Be strong for…whatever the fox her name is.”

Breezepelt and Lionblaze gaped at Jayfeather. Jayfeather blinked, surprised at himself.

“That actually sounded…wise.” Lionblaze remarked as he carelessly tramped on. Jayfeather raised a paw to his lips.

“Will you hush! Whatever guards Harespring has here will find us with all of your clambering!”

Lionblaze’s stomping turned into near quiet tip-toeing, though the tom was so huge he could not tip-toe without still making a great deal of noise. Jayfeather flicked his ear in undisguised annoyance. _I know I’ve been friends with Lion a long time, but this is like sneaking about with amateurs!_ Yet the blue eyed tabby continued on, always checking each corner with his candle to be aware of any traps. Lionblaze tippy-toed behind him with much difficulty (as he had never been forced to tip-toe before). Breezepelt did his best to contain his groans and to be strong for the princess, Heathertail. Jayfeather seemed so busy focusing on traps that most likely were not there that he did not notice anything else until a huge gust of wind blew by him. Jayfeather brought his head up, confusion making his brain reel. There were no open windows.

“W-why is there wind in a castle?” Breezepelt’s voice shook with fear. Jayfeather placed a paw on his dagger.

“I don’t know, but with no windows in this area, it isn’t natural. Brace your selves!” And Jayfeather remained exactly right. For out of the darkness came-

“A shadow?” Breezepelt squinted trying to decipher the dark cat-shaped shape. Lionblaze glared at the shape too. 

“Ooh, it’s looks like a feminine shape! Hello, girl-shadow! We can always go out sometime, okay?”

Jayfeather slapped his paw to his forehead. Lionblaze was not always the sharpest carving knife in the box. Quickly, the gray tom whipped out his dagger and pointed it at the girl-shadow-cat-shaped-shape thing.

“Show yourself, girl-shadow-cat-shaped-shape thing! I will use this!”

The cat-shaped shape put its paws on its hips.

“Excuse me, I am clearly male! And I will use THIS if I want to as well.” The shape stepped out of the shadows to reveal a small gray-black tom with ocean blue eyes. In his right paw, the tom held a sword. Jayfeather’s eyes widened. _What?_ Lionblaze however almost cried laughing.

“This,” The amber-eyed tom mewed through bouts of laughter. He wiped at his eyes. “Is who I’m up against? Who is this little piece of dung anyway?”

The cat narrowed his eyes. He directed the point of his sword from Jayfeather to Lionblaze. All three cats gasped as the paw that held the sword came into the dim light.

“I am Crowfeather, the king’s bodyguard, his advisor, and I am clearly here to kill one of you badgers.”

Jayfeather’s heart stopped beating for a few seconds. Lionblaze dropped Breezepelt on the ground in his surprise. Breezepelt fell on the hard stone with a pained thump.

“Ow!” Lionblaze pointed a shaking claw at the cat in the shadows.

“You…you have six claws.” He whispered disbelievingly. Then he shook his golden head. “Okay, what’s the deal? Are you diseased or something? Are you going to infect us?”

Jayfeather grabbed Lionblaze and pulled him back with all of his might. Being a hulking cat giant, the warrior did not even budge. Instead, Lionblaze turned to Jayfeather to find fear lurking in his gaze.

“Get back!” Jayfeather screamed, the mission completely forgotten. Breezepelt stared at Jayfeather, surprised. The gray-black tom yawned and studied his six-clawed paw.

“Any day now, boys.” Jayfeather clung to Lionblaze as if his life solely depended on it. Lionblaze and Breezepelt exchanged glances. Jayfeather never acted like this unless something really freaked him out.

“Jay-” Lionblaze was cut off by a shrill from Jayfeather.

“Get away from that – that monster!” Lionblaze’s gaze shifted from Jayfeather to the small tom and back again.

“Monster? Jayfeather, he’s just a cute little guy with a cute little sword. How much harm can he do?”

Jayfeather focused on gathering enough courage in order to grab his weapon again. His blue eyes flashed with fear as he pointed the dagger at the tom who was as equally small as himself.

“He is a monster! His paw bears the six! He is a walking, breathing curse!” Jayfeather was panting in his anguish. “He can put his sickness on you! Run! Both of you, run!”

Lionblaze picked Breezepelt up off of the floor, and began to turn back. It was then that he realized that Jayfeather remained behind Lionblaze, him and the strange tom pointing their weapons at each other. The gray tabby tom murmured something to the stranger. Lionblaze skidded to a stop.

“Jay, come on!” Jayfeather put down his candlelight before he glimpsed Lionblaze. Jayfeather dipped his head to his best friend.

“Lion, this is my fight. Not yours. Take Breezepelt to Heathertail so that you can save her.”

Again on his shoulder, Breezepelt indignantly mewed;

“Great! Now the guard knows our plan. Thanks a lot!” This was true. Lionblaze expected the guard to start chasing them instead of sparring with his best friend. Confusion made Lionblaze’s head reel. What was going on here? Did Jayfeather know this weird shadow cat? But the guard stayed facing Jayfeather, his sharp sword aimed at Jayfeather’s abdomen. Jayfeather gave Lionblaze a curt nod before he and the shadow cat began to clash with their weapons.

“Go!” Jayfeather screeched as he dodged the quick blade. “Save yourselves!”

Lionblaze stood still, watching his friend avoid a sharp six-set of claws. He should be helping Jay!

“Come on!” Breezepelt hollered, kicking Lionblaze in the back. “We have to go!”

Guiltily, Lionblaze lowered his gaze. And he took off into the rest of the dark, cold castle. His feet pounded on the stone. Jayfeather waited until his friend’s pawsteps faded away. Then, he held up his paw to his attacker. The tom, Crowfeather, quit his ambush to stand facing Jayfeather, chest heaving. Jayfeather took a deep breath.

“I am Jayfeather of the Thunders Kingdom, and you killed my father. Prepare to die.” Crowfeather blinked. Then he started to laugh. His laugh became deeper and started to echo with an evil flair throughout. Jayfeather’s cobalt eyes grew even wider, and shone with fear. He shuddered.

“You insolent fool! I took your father many, many moons ago! He owed me a debt and did not pay me back! So, I took his body. That was our deal.”

Jayfeather gasped. A red smoke rose up from the ground and Crowfeather’s ocean blue eyes began to glow red. The tom gave another unnatural, evil, malicious cackle. His sixth claw twitched violently.

“Ha ha! And, your father gave himself to me because he wanted your mother to stay with him. And he _still_ lost her. And poor little Jayfeather had to raise himself out of hate and spite and rejection. Oh, such the tragedy. Yet, it was a stroke of genius on my part. He was so young and stupid, child. Like you are now. You don’t think I can’t double my spirit to take you as well?”

Jayfeather gulped, and gripped his dagger tighter than ever. His paws sweated hard, making the wooden hold of his weapon slick and difficult to grasp. He glared up at Crowfeather, blue eyes smoldering.

“No. I am well aware of what you can do, Masala. Stop possessing him. _Now_.” Crowfeather’s body grabbed his sword. Masala directed the sword at Jayfeather’s belly. The ancient spirit clucked his non-existent tongue.

“Tut tut, young feather…You should know that won’t be enough to stop me from feeding off of his life force.”

Jayfeather’s claws unsheathed and he yelled at the ghost in frustration.

“Then go get life from that life-sucking machine! I don’t care! Just give him back to me!”

Masala sighed and made the point of the sword press against Jayfeather’s stomach lightly.

“Dear feather… you never had him. He was always mine. My prey. My source. _Mine_.”

Blood trickled down Jayfeather’s abdomen and legs but he did not make a sound. Instead, the small tom took his dagger from its sheath in his belt. The two weapons clanged as Jayfeather knocked the sword away from himself with the knife. When spirit roared in anger the foundation of the castle rocked and quaked. Crowfeather’s body lunged at Jayfeather, knocking him to the ground. Half of Jayfeather wanted to scramble away and never return as his small body knocked against the cold, hard rock. The other half wanted to stay and protect Crowfeather. His father. The gears in Jayfeather’s head grinded together. How could he save Crowfeather without injuring him? Suddenly, a lightbulb appeared over Jayfeather’s head. It may have came to Jayfeather as a candle but the tom still put his idea into action. Jayfeather struggled to his feet. He stood. And scrambled away. Masala stopped attacking Jayfeather to roar in rage.

“COME BACK!” Masala’s echoing screech shook the castle as Jayfeather made a left turn in the winding, twisting hallways. “I’M NOT THROUGH WITH YOU! I WILL MURDER YOUR SPIRIT! I WILL SUCK YOUR VERY LIFE FROM YOUR TINY LITTLE SHRIVELED-UP HEART! COME BACK, YOU UNDER-SIZED RAT!”

Terror made Jayfeather push even harder. He sprinted hard, and long.

A little cleaning boy, Alderheart he was called, bent scrubbing the stone floor as Jayfeather sped by. Alderheart cursed out loud when he accidentally dipped his tail in the bucket of soapy water again.

“Aw, rusted armor! I’m going to be so wet when I finally get to go to bed. Why do they even keep me up past twelve thirty?” All of a sudden, a gray tabby blur flew past the dark ginger adolescent. “Gaw! What in the peasant’s hood was that thing?”

Then, Alderheart heard more footsteps coming up behind him. He turned. It was Crowfeather, the guard and advisor for the king. Alderheart narrowed his honey-colored eyes. He hadn’t really liked Crowfeather because of the tom’s harsh, cold and hateful attitude. He had especially started disliking the guard when Crowfeather once said that Alderheart did not clean the floor correctly and spilled all of Alderheart’s soapy water on the stone on purpose. Still, the cleaning boy had to be polite. As Crowfeather rushed by him, Alderheart decided to speak up.

“Hello sir! Do you need any more duties done around the castle?” Crowfeather stumbled to a stop. The gray tom’s head swiveled all the way around to look at the cleaning boy. His eyes still glowed red. Alderheart fell back on his rump in total shock.

“What the dragon-balls? You must be really tired if your eyes are red like that!” Crowfeather glared at the servant, annoyed and angered. After what seemed like hours of a staring contest, Crowfeather lifted up his six clawed paw. Alderheart shuddered inwardly. Maybe that was the only reason why he felt uneasy around Crowfeather. Not to say that the tipping his water bucket over thing did not tick Alderheart off. But the ancient curse that his grandmother had told him about… that curse that happened to fall upon Alderheart’s uncle, who he had never even known. But the strangest thing happened when Crowfeather lifted his paw. Alderheart was plucked off of the ground by his tail!

“Ow! Hey, cut that out! Sir!” Alderheart hastily added, knowing that Crowfeather was one step away from royalty. Crowfeather cackled maliciously, and levitated Alderheart to the ceiling, where many beams supported the castle. Alderheart felt himself plonk down on a board, high above the floor. Alderheart’s vision wavered in front of him. He was petrified of elevations. Crowfeather gave one more laugh, the red aurora engulfing him. The aurora sweeped Crowfeather up, and carried him off in the direction of the gray blur. Jayfeather kept on running, hearing the echoes of Masala’s screeches bounce against the walls in front of him.

“My dear boy… I have a present for you.” Masala’s voice cackled against the Enchanted Library door. “You know how much your father loved to keep his claws sharp.”

Jayfeather gasped, the pain in his stomach increasing with each step. He ran right at the library doors, and shoved them open, pelting up to where all of the ancient writings were stacked. Masala gave a great roar, but Jayfeather was lost to him in the dark of the library. The gray tabby took in gulps of air until his breathing slowed. There had to be a book about this demon somewhere! He pawed all of their leather covers until his paw rested on a cloth covered one with gold-stitched lettering.

“The Book of Creatures…” The gray tabby’s heart went cold in his chest as he opened the book, Masala’s furious screeches making the moment much scarier. “This book informs you about the supernatural spirits that are threatening. Do not let kits read, for fear that this may give them nightmares.”

“Little boy…” Masala’s deep voice growled, rumbling all throughout the library. “Daddy wants you back…”

How dared that scoundrel! Jayfeather flipped to the index, as quietly as he could.

“Found it. Masala, Demon of Six – Hatred, Jealousy, Depression, Agony, Lies and most evil.” Jayfeather would have been impressed at this demon’s agenda if the brute weren’t possessing his father. “He moves around the earth, looking for restless, hungry souls to devour. If he does possess someone or something, he will usually stay put for the rest of that being’s life.”

A pang of sadness welled up in Jayfeather's throat. Masala had been in his father for fifty years. He might never get Crowfeather back. Still he kept reading, to find any weaknesses of the spirit.

“The demon enjoys breaking up families and relationships, inflicting pain on others, and causing a depression so severe that some have been known to kill themselves within three days after possession.”

Well. His father was one of the strong ones. Jayfeather traced the letters with a shaking claw, blue eyes glinting in the dark.

“Though a great deal of his weaknesses are unknown to cat-kind, we have found that he hates large amounts of love." 

Ah-ha! There was Jayfeather's answer, and now it was so plain to see. Setting the book in back where it was so that Masala would not get a grip on it, Jayfeather stood straight up.

“Hey, Red-eyes! Got you some gray tabby over here!” Crowfeather’s red eyes blinked in his direction, and the dark gray tom lunged toward the higher part of the library.

“You little sea scum!” Masala snapped, letting Crowfeather’s claws rake against Jayfeather shoulder, pulling out a hunk of fur. “You will pay for trying to best me!”

“Keep talking, badger,” Jayfeather spat, not even trying to resist the blows that pummeled his small body. In a softer voice, as loving as he could manage, he cooed softly. “Father?”

Crowfeather body jerked, as if the tom were in pain. Masala’s red outline hovered over him, and for a moment, the sixth claw on Crowfeather’s paw stilled and stopped twitching.

“You piece of rat dung! What do you think-” Before Masala could finish, Jayfeather reached out and grabbed Crowfeather’s paw. The cursed one.

“Father, I want you to know that I love you. Mom always did, and so did Hollyleaf. We never wanted you to be hurt like this. Understand?”

Crowfeather’s body jerked even more violently, and he let out a wail, completely uninfluenced by Masala. The glowing red spirit wavered in the air, clearly troubled.

“What – stop what you’re doing!” Jayfeather stared straight into Crowfeather’s red eyes, tail flicking in hope.

“Father, I missed you when you left. It was like my whole world collapsed on me. I really do love you. And I really want you back.”

Masala let out a roar, and Crowfeather’s claws unsheathed weakly.

“STOP IT! I WILL NOT LET HIM GO!” Jayfeather squeezed Crowfeather’s paw hard.

“Well, you’ve had him long enough, you fox.” To Crowfeather, he pressed his muzzle against his father’s ear, whispering softly. “This force will be driven out. You will be made whole.”

Jayfeather tried to believe it. He pictured Crowfeather restored, and laughing with bright blue eyes. Masala let out a horrified screech as part of his misty red began to fade.

“What is happening? No one has ever done this before!” Jayfeather pressed his body against Crowfeather, tears spilling from his eyes.

“No… mercy…” Masala’s cries faded away along with his red glowing body. He soon turned into nothing, his cries lost to the fiery tones of the dark underworld.

A small bit of light from the door cast a shadow on Jayfeather and his father. The gray tabby slumped on the floor, still sobbing.

“I probably lost,” Jayfeather moaned, clutching his bleeding stomach. “I didn’t save him.”

Crowfeather’s body moved in his grasp, but Jayfeather was in too much pain and confusion to notice.

“I might as well face it. He’s gone. His soul has been eaten who all I know.” Above him, came a soft, shy voice.

“Whose soul?” Jayfeather ignored it, thinking it was the cleaning boy.

“Masala probably finished feeding off of him. Boy, and he’s sure going to come for me next. I gave him the most trouble.”

“M - Masala? The voice stuttered, seeming to get smaller.

“Yeah, that sucker.” Jayfeather agreed, curling his tail over his belly wound. “I tried to find him for decades and the guy had my father the whole time.”

“You’re Jayfeather, right?” The voice asked, as if scared of the gray tabby. “You’re bigger than I remember.”

Jayfeather sighed, too upset to talk anymore. The voice went on talking, as if it didn’t realize the current dilemma.

“Last I saw you, you were so tiny.”

Jayfeather gave the speaker an annoyed glance.

“What do you think I am…?” Jayfeather stopped. Crowfeather’s ocean blue eyes peered down at him curiously, observing him. He wore a dazed look, and a sickly smile crossed his lips.

“My head hurts,” Crowfeather declared, stumbling away from Jayfeather's tight hold. “I want to throw up.”

“Same here.” Jayfeather smiled, and fell back, head knocking on the floor. Everything turned black.

In his dreams, nightmares plagued him. Masala’s formless shape followed him everywhere until Jayfeather saw the demon leap into his body. Everything went red for a while, until Jayfeather went somewhere else and Masala would jump into him again. This happened over and over and over until Jayfeather jerked awake. He was in a medic’s room, tucked into the folds of the sheets. He glanced to his right, where Crowfeather was sound asleep in the cot next to him. The tom’s drool dripped onto the floor, and his tail twitched as he snored.

“G’evening!” A cheerful voice piped up. Jayfeather whipped his head to the side to see brown tom with clear blue eyes standing there, bandages in his paws. “The advisor will be out for a few more hours until he’s ready to wake. You’ve both been asleep for three days straight!”

Jayfeather could count nine white specks on the tom’s fur before he moaned, and had to rest his head back on the pillow. The brown tom kept on chattering as he washed his paws in a bucket of soapy water.

“Your friends found you after you and the advisor were found blacked out like that. You lost a whole lot of blood. I kept some of it in a vessel for you to see.”

The tom pointed at glass bottle of red liquid on the countertop. Jayfeather's eyes widened. No wonder he fainted.

“You’ll have to stay in bed until we’re sure that your well and strong. The advisor is much different, however. He threw up when we dragged him here, and he kept talking nonsense until we gave him a few poppy seeds to rest on. He should be fine.”

Before Jayfeather could say anything, the brown tom started to talk again.

“Your blood is awesome leech feed. They really like it when one eats a lot of sugar. It’s their favorite!”

Jayfeather squinted and noticed that little black worms were swimming around in the vial. Half of them were dead. The gray tabby cringed, nose wrinkling in disgust.

“I need to see Lionblaze and Breezepelt.” He whispered, too weak to speak loudly. The tom flicked an ear.

“Eh? Speak up, I’m half deaf you know!” Jayfeather gritted his teeth in annoyance.

How was he to know that this cat was hard of hearing. He spoke up, a little louder.

“I need to see Lionblaze and Breezepelt!”

“You need to see to the hazes with your seatbelt? Speak up!” Jayfeather mustered all of his strength, and screeched.

“I need to see Lionblaze and Breezepelt! Bring them here!” The brown tom nodded, and quickly shuffled out of the room. A little later, Lionblaze stuck his head in the door.

“Jayfeather? You’re awake!” Jayfeather gave the golden tabby a weak smile.

“Where’s Breezepelt? Is the princess safe?” Lionblaze gave a grin, and Jayfeather noticed that his friend had a few teeth missing.

“He’s right behind me, WITH her highness.” The tom removed himself from the doorway, and a brown tabby she-cat stepped in, her lavender dress flowing with her gracefully.

Breezepelt strutted inside, no weakness from the experience with the machine showed. All the happiness in the world showed on his face until he saw Jayfeather, battered and missing clumps of fur, barely able to move in the bed.

“Jayfeather! What happened to you?” His gaze went from Jayfeather to Crowfeather sleeping in the bed. “HE did this to you?”

The black tom hurled himself at the sleeping tom, amber eyes alive with rage.

“Breezepelt, no!” Heathertail grabbed him by the paw. “Don’t kill him. Let Jayfeather tell us what happened.”

Breezepelt gave a snort, glaring down at his paws while Lionblaze tried to squeeze his big shoulders through the door.

“He nearly killed him, Heathertail! I should give him a few marks to remember. Plus, he was working for Harespring! We can’t trust him!”

Heathertail held up her paw for silence.

“No more.” Breezepelt sighed in defeat, and sat in a nearby chair. Heathertail’s violet eyes focused on Jayfeather. “So, you’re the one who tamed this tom? Well done.”

“Thanks,” Jayfeather croaked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Half wishing I'd continued a little more, but at least I didn't get much of a chance to ruin Heathertail (i think)...
> 
> Also yes I edited this one a little bit. The ceremony Jay used to suck Masala out was... frankly terrible but let's just say for now that the power of love and huggies saved the day and not endless chanting!


	4. Review (or really just me talking) of: Fifty Year Curse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alright, let's get into this!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own The Tale of Despereaux or the character Miggery Sow! Both belong to Kate Dicamillo and deserve more fanfiction in my humble opinion. *pauses* I might just do that

It was one o’ clock in the morning. Three odd trespassers hurried through the dark halls of a moonlit castle. In the daytime the stone palace was tall, majestic and impressive to look at. But at night, the castle loomed over the village, shedding its gloom on the nearby houses. The organized halls and doors of the castle became a winding, dark labyrinth. Jayfeather trotted into a dark stone hallway that was only lit by the flickering candlelight in his left paw. Shuffling ensued behind him. Jayfeather whirled, and held the candle up high so that its weak light shone in the space. The tabby clutched a dagger in his paw.

**Also, feel like I should mention that Jayfeather can see here... I used to switch between him being blind and not blind but I mean why do that? So I don't consciously try to do that anymore. I might still do it without noticing.**

“Relax Jay, it’s just us.” A deep voice sounded. _Lionblaze!_ Two figures came into the light one walking, one having to be dragged. One was a golden tabby giant whose amber eyes glinted in the gloom. The other tom had black fur, pain screwing his face as he bumped along the rough stones in the castle floor. Relief flooded through Jayfeather’s veins, but it still didn’t hush that nervous excitement that made his heart thump. Jayfeather breathed a sigh and turned around to face his two comrades. He glared at the huge golden tom.

**Also forgot to mention these three aren't brothers here. Jay and Holly are siblings but that's it**

“Will you hurry up, Lionblaze? The princess won’t save herself!” The golden tom took a step back, his deep voice rumbled in his throat. Reluctantly, Lionblaze picked up the black tom and heaved him on his broad shoulder. The cat jostled on Lionblaze’s shoulder as the giant tabby continued forward. The suspended cat let out a pained groan. Jayfeather rolled his blue eyes.

“Breezepelt, it can’t hurt that much.” Breezepelt glanced up at Jayfeather and growled back.

“Well, YOU try literally getting the life sucked out of you by some devil machine, and try to not feel pain!”

Jayfeather scanned the surroundings with each step to make sure there were no hidden trapdoors or arrows that could drop or impale them at any second.

“We all feel pain Breezepelt. It’s just a matter of if we let that pain dominate us. You are the master of what and how you feel. Control it! Be strong for…whatever the fox her name is.”

**Breeze: that's easy for you to say**

Breezepelt and Lionblaze gaped at Jayfeather. Jayfeather blinked, surprised at himself.

“That actually sounded…wise.” Lionblaze remarked as he carelessly tramped on. Jayfeather raised a paw to his lips.

“Will you hush! Whatever guards Harespring has here will find us with all of your clambering!”

Lionblaze’s stomping turned into near quiet tip-toeing, though the tom was so huge he could not tip-toe without still making a great deal of noise. Jayfeather flicked his ear in undisguised annoyance. _I know I’ve been friends with Lion a long time, but this is like sneaking about with amateurs!_

**His irritation is amusing for me**

Yet the blue eyed tabby continued on, always checking each corner with his candle to be aware of any traps. Lionblaze tippy-toed behind him with much difficulty (as he had never been forced to tip-toe before). Breezepelt did his best to contain his groans and to be strong for the princess, Heathertail. Jayfeather seemed so busy focusing on traps that most likely were not there that he did not notice anything else until a huge gust of wind blew by him. Jayfeather brought his head up, confusion making his brain reel. There were no open windows.

“W-why is there wind in a castle?” Breezepelt’s voice shook with fear. Jayfeather placed a paw on his dagger.

“I don’t know, but with no windows in this area, it isn’t natural. Brace your selves!” And Jayfeather remained exactly right. For out of the darkness came-

“A shadow?” Breezepelt squinted trying to decipher the dark cat-shaped shape. Lionblaze glared at the shape too. 

“Ooh, it’s looks like a feminine shape! **boy, you wish** Hello, girl-shadow! We can always go out sometime, okay?”

Jayfeather slapped his paw to his forehead. Lionblaze was not always the sharpest carving knife in the box. Quickly, the gray tom whipped out his dagger and pointed it at the girl-shadow-cat-shaped-shape thing.

“Show yourself, girl-shadow-cat-shaped-shape thing! I will use this!”

The cat-shaped shape put its paws on its hips.

“Excuse me, I am clearly male! And I will use THIS if I want to as well.” The shape stepped out of the shadows to reveal a small gray-black tom with ocean blue eyes. In his right paw, the tom held a sword. Jayfeather’s eyes widened. _What?_ Lionblaze however almost cried laughing.

“This,” The amber-eyed tom mewed through bouts of laughter. He wiped at his eyes. “Is who I’m up against? Who is this little piece of dung anyway?” **you're on thin pancake flippin' ice bud**

The cat narrowed his eyes. He directed the point of his sword from Jayfeather to Lionblaze. All three cats gasped as the paw that held the sword came into the dim light.

“I am Crowfeather, the king’s bodyguard, his advisor, and I am clearly here to kill one of you badgers.” **yay, the baby's here! wait, why does he have a knife-**

Jayfeather’s heart stopped beating for a few seconds. **oh no boi we can't has you dyings** Lionblaze dropped Breezepelt on the ground in his surprise. Breezepelt fell on the hard stone with a pained thump. **Ouchie**

“Ow!” Lionblaze pointed a shaking claw at the cat in the shadows. 

“You…you have six claws.” He whispered disbelievingly. Then he shook his golden head. “Okay, what’s the deal? Are you diseased or something? Are you going to infect us?” **That's rude of you**

Jayfeather grabbed Lionblaze and pulled him back with all of his might. Being a hulking cat giant, the warrior did not even budge. Instead, Lionblaze turned to Jayfeather to find fear lurking in his gaze.

“Get back!” Jayfeather screamed, the mission completely forgotten. Breezepelt stared at Jayfeather, surprised. The gray-black tom yawned and studied his six-clawed paw.

“Any day now, boys.” Jayfeather clung to Lionblaze as if his life solely depended on it. Lionblaze and Breezepelt exchanged glances. Jayfeather never acted like this unless something really freaked him out.

“Jay-” Lionblaze was cut off by a shrill from Jayfeather.

“Get away from that – that monster!” Lionblaze’s gaze shifted from Jayfeather to the small tom and back again.

“Monster? Jayfeather, he’s just a cute little guy with a cute little sword. How much harm can he do?” **Yeah Crow is basically harmless in most of my stuff what _is_ he capable of here**

Jayfeather focused on gathering enough courage in order to grab his weapon again. His blue eyes flashed with fear as he pointed the dagger at the tom who was as equally small as himself.

“He is a monster! His paw bears the six! He is a walking, breathing curse!” **Oh** Jayfeather was panting in his anguish. “He can put his sickness on you! Run! Both of you, run!”

Lionblaze picked Breezepelt up off of the floor, and began to turn back. It was then that he realized that Jayfeather remained behind Lionblaze, him and the strange tom pointing their weapons at each other. The gray tabby tom murmured something to the stranger. Lionblaze skidded to a stop.

“Jay, come on!” Jayfeather put down his candlelight before he glimpsed Lionblaze. Jayfeather dipped his head to his best friend.

“Lion, this is my fight. Not yours. **NO** Take Breezepelt to Heathertail so that you can save her.”

Again on his shoulder, Breezepelt indignantly mewed;

“Great! Now the guard knows our plan. Thanks a lot!” This was true. Lionblaze expected the guard to start chasing them instead of sparring with his best friend. Confusion made Lionblaze’s head reel. What was going on here? Did Jayfeather know this weird shadow cat? But the guard stayed facing Jayfeather, his sharp sword aimed at Jayfeather’s abdomen. Jayfeather gave Lionblaze a curt nod before he and the shadow cat began to clash with their weapons.

“Go!” Jayfeather screeched as he dodged the quick blade. “Save yourselves!”

Lionblaze stood still, watching his friend avoid a sharp six-set of claws. He should be helping Jay! **Yes you should**

“Come on!” Breezepelt hollered, kicking Lionblaze in the back. “We have to go!”

Guiltily, Lionblaze lowered his gaze. And he took off into the rest of the dark, cold castle. His feet pounded on the stone. Jayfeather waited until his friend’s pawsteps faded away. Then, he held up his paw to his attacker. The tom, Crowfeather, quit his ambush to stand facing Jayfeather, chest heaving. Jayfeather took a deep breath.

“I am Jayfeather of the Thunders Kingdom, and you killed my father. Prepare to die.” Crowfeather blinked. Then he started to laugh. His laugh became deeper and started to echo with an evil flair throughout. Jayfeather’s cobalt eyes ***scribbles down eye color before I forget* Gosh I love that color...** grew even wider, and shone with fear. He shuddered.

“You insolent fool! **oooo little me using beeg words** I took your father many, many moons ago! He owed me a debt and did not pay me back! So, I took his body. That was our deal.”

Jayfeather gasped. A red smoke rose up from the ground and Crowfeather’s ocean blue eyes began to glow red. The tom gave another unnatural, evil, malicious cackle. His sixth claw twitched violently.

“Ha ha! And, your father gave himself to me because he wanted your mother to stay with him. And he _still_ lost her. And poor little Jayfeather had to raise himself out of hate and spite and rejection. Oh, such the tragedy. Yet, it was a stroke of genius on my part. He was so young and stupid, child. Like you are now. You don’t think I can’t double my spirit to take you as well?”

Jayfeather gulped, and gripped his dagger tighter than ever. His paws sweated hard, making the wooden hold of his weapon slick and difficult to grasp. **Ooo, I like that description. Nice** He glared up at Crowfeather, blue eyes smoldering.

“No. I am well aware of what you can do, Masala. **When your villain is named after... *googles quickly* a... spice mix.** Stop possessing him. _Now_.” Crowfeather’s body grabbed his sword. Masala directed the sword at Jayfeather’s belly. The ancient spirit clucked his non-existent tongue. 

“Tut tut, young feather…You should know that won’t be enough to stop me from feeding off of his life force.”

Jayfeather’s claws unsheathed and he yelled at the ghost in frustration.

“Then go get life from that life-sucking machine! I don’t care! Just give him back to me!” **Also back when I solely wanted Crow and Jay to get along because of the dumbest reason - they both had the -feather suffix. Jay cares for Crow too much here for me to believe any of this now**

Masala sighed and made the point of the sword press against Jayfeather’s stomach lightly.

“Dear feather… you never had him. He was always mine. My prey. My source. _Mine_.”

Blood trickled down Jayfeather’s abdomen and legs but he did not make a sound. Instead, the small tom took his dagger from its sheath in his belt. The two weapons clanged as Jayfeather knocked the sword away from himself with the knife. When spirit roared in anger the foundation of the castle rocked and quaked. Crowfeather’s body lunged at Jayfeather, knocking him to the ground. Half of Jayfeather wanted to scramble away and never return as his small body knocked against the cold, hard rock. The other half wanted to stay and protect Crowfeather. His father. The gears in Jayfeather’s head grinded together.

**mm mmm MMMM I'm all for being descriptive yes sirree YES I'm so happeee-**

How could he save Crowfeather without injuring him? Suddenly, a lightbulb appeared over Jayfeather’s head. It may have came to Jayfeather as a candle but the tom still put his idea into action. Jayfeather struggled to his feet. He stood. And scrambled away. Masala stopped attacking Jayfeather to roar in rage.

“COME BACK!” Masala’s echoing screech shook the castle as Jayfeather made a left turn in the winding, twisting hallways. “I’M NOT THROUGH WITH YOU! I WILL MURDER YOUR SPIRIT! I WILL SUCK YOUR VERY LIFE FROM YOUR TINY LITTLE SHRIVELED-UP HEART! COME BACK, YOU UNDER-SIZED RAT!”

**idk or remember why but this part made me laugh so hard back then**

Terror made Jayfeather push even harder. He sprinted hard, and long.

A little cleaning boy, Alderheart he was called, bent scrubbing the stone floor as Jayfeather sped by. Alderheart cursed out loud when he accidentally dipped his tail in the bucket of soapy water again.

“Aw, rusted armor! I’m going to be so wet when I finally get to go to bed. Why do they even keep me up past twelve thirty?” All of a sudden, a gray tabby blur flew past the dark ginger adolescent. “Gaw! **Sound familiar??** What in the peasant’s hood was that thing?” **Yes Alderheart was based off Miggery Sow from The Tale of Despereaux in this because I love her (which may need some more fanfiction btw) she's so sweet even if Roscuro was using her. We want to know what you want, Miggery**

**ah, a simpler time when I used to consume other books than Warriors**

Then, Alderheart heard more footsteps coming up behind him. He turned. It was Crowfeather, the guard and advisor for the king. Alderheart narrowed his honey-colored eyes. He hadn’t really liked Crowfeather because of the tom’s harsh, cold and hateful attitude. He had especially started disliking the guard when Crowfeather once said that Alderheart did not clean the floor correctly and spilled all of Alderheart’s soapy water on the stone on purpose. Still, the cleaning boy had to be polite. As Crowfeather rushed by him, Alderheart decided to speak up. **uh oh. I wouldn't do that if I were you**

“Hello sir! Do you need any more duties done around the castle?” Crowfeather stumbled to a stop. The gray tom’s head swiveled all the way around to look at the cleaning boy. His eyes still glowed red. Alderheart fell back on his rump in total shock.

“What the dragon-balls? You must be really tired if your eyes are red like that!” Crowfeather glared at the servant, annoyed and angered. After what seemed like hours of a staring contest, Crowfeather lifted up his six clawed paw. Alderheart shuddered inwardly. Six claws. Maybe that was the only reason why he felt uneasy around Crowfeather. Not to say that the tipping his water bucket over thing did not tick Alderheart off. But the ancient curse that his grandmother had told him about… that curse that happened to fall upon Alderheart’s uncle, who he had never even known. **Hawkfrost! gasp but wait what happened to him *shakes old me's shoulders* SERIOUSLY I CAN'T REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED TO HAWKY-**

But the strangest thing happened when Crowfeather lifted his paw. Alderheart was plucked off of the ground by his tail! **Whoa um so that's what he's capable of**

“Ow! Hey, cut that out! Sir!” Alderheart hastily added, knowing that Crowfeather was one step away from royalty. Crowfeather cackled maliciously, and levitated Alderheart to the ceiling, where many beams supported the castle. Alderheart felt himself plonk down on a board, high above the floor. Alderheart’s vision wavered in front of him. He was petrified of elevations. Crowfeather gave one more laugh, the red aurora engulfing him. The aurora sweeped **ah ah ah SWEPT** Crowfeather up, and carried him off in the direction of the gray blur. Jayfeather kept on running, hearing the echoes of Masala’s screeches bounce against the walls in front of him.

“My dear boy… I have a present for you.” Masala’s voice cackled against the Enchanted Library door. “You know how much your father loved to keep his claws sharp.” **Well, I mean... I only felt a smidgen of threaten-y-ness. That's all.**

**I remember being super scared writing Masala. I would pause every second to go**

**"eUGh he's sho CWeepy"**

**but now he just seems meh**

Jayfeather gasped, the pain in his stomach increasing with each step. He ran right at the library doors, and shoved them open, pelting up to where all of the ancient writings were stacked. Masala gave a great roar, but Jayfeather was lost to him in the dark of the library. **Seriously you're in a cat body dude and if Jayfeather can read in the dark why can't you see him**

The gray tabby took in gulps of air until his breathing slowed. **Also nice. Ugh, I'm dying here. In some ways, I really do think I was starting to write better here** There had to be a book about this demon somewhere! He pawed all of their leather covers until his paw rested on a cloth covered one with gold-stitched lettering.

“The Book of Creatures…” The gray tabby’s heart went cold in his chest as he opened the book, Masala’s furious screeches making the moment much scarier. “This book informs you about the supernatural spirits that are threatening. Do not let kits read, for fear that this may give them nightmares.” **Ya hear that kids no bedtime stories from THIS babee**

“Little boy…” Masala’s deep voice growled, rumbling all throughout the library. “Daddy wants you back…” **...*throws up on cobblestone***

How dared that scoundrel! **Yes how dared he indeed** Jayfeather flipped to the index, as quietly as he could.

“Found it. Masala, Demon of Six – Hatred, Jealousy, Depression, Agony, Lies and most evil.” **That's a whole lot of words to just say EVIL CAKE SCRAPS** Jayfeather would have been impressed at this demon’s agenda if the brute weren’t possessing his father. “He moves around the earth, looking for restless, hungry souls to devour. **yummy** If he does possess someone or something, he will usually stay put for the rest of that being’s life.”

A pang of sadness welled up in Jayfeather's throat. **Like that description too! Gosh, I could kiss this! wait *smooches* there we go** Masala had been in his father for fifty years. He might never get Crowfeather back. Still he kept reading, to find any weaknesses of the spirit.

“The demon enjoys breaking up families and relationships, inflicting pain on others, and causing a depression so severe that some have been known to kill themselves within three days after possession.”

Well. His father was one of the strong ones. Jayfeather traced the letters with a shaking claw, blue eyes glinting in the dark. 

“Though a great deal of his weaknesses are unknown to cat-kind, we have found that he hates large amounts of love **and insert other method i left out**." 

Ah-ha! There was Jayfeather's answer, and now it was so plain to see. Setting the book in back where it was so that Masala would not get a grip on it, Jayfeather stood straight up.

“Hey, Red-eyes! Got you some gray tabby over here!” Crowfeather’s red eyes blinked in his direction, and the dark gray tom lunged toward the higher part of the library.

“You little sea scum!” Masala snapped, letting Crowfeather’s claws rake against Jayfeather shoulder, pulling out a hunk of fur. **Ouchie** “You will pay for trying to best me!”

“Keep talking, badger,” Jayfeather spat, not even trying to resist the blows that pummeled his small body. **Double ouchie** In a softer voice, as loving as he could manage, he cooed softly. “Father?”

Crowfeather body jerked, as if the tom were in pain. Masala’s red outline hovered over him, and for a moment, the sixth claw on Crowfeather’s paw stilled and stopped twitching.

“You piece of rat dung! What do you think-” Before Masala could finish, Jayfeather reached out and grabbed Crowfeather’s paw. The cursed one.

“Father, I want you to know that I love you. Mom always did, and so did Hollyleaf. We never wanted you to be hurt like this. Understand?”

Crowfeather’s body jerked even more violently, and he let out a wail, completely uninfluenced by Masala. The glowing red spirit wavered in the air, clearly troubled.

“What – stop what you’re doing!” Jayfeather stared straight into Crowfeather’s red eyes, tail flicking in hope.

“Father, I missed you when you left. It was like my whole world collapsed on me. I really do love you. And I really want you back.”

Masala let out a roar, and Crowfeather’s claws unsheathed weakly.

“STOP IT! I WILL NOT LET HIM GO!” Jayfeather squeezed Crowfeather’s paw hard.

“Well, you’ve had him long enough, you fox.” To Crowfeather, he pressed his muzzle against his father’s ear, whispering softly. “This force will be driven out. You will be made whole.”

Jayfeather tried to believe it. He pictured Crowfeather restored, and laughing with bright blue eyes. Masala let out a horrified screech as part of his misty red began to fade.

“What is happening? No one has ever done this before!” Jayfeather pressed his body against Crowfeather, tears spilling from his eyes.

“No… mercy…” Masala’s cries faded away along with his red glowing body. He soon turned into nothing, his cries lost to the fiery tones of the dark underworld. **Bye spicy boi**

**Fun Fact: Did you knowwwww that LBramble is actually supposed to be Masala**

**...**

**Yeah anyways**

A small bit of light from the door cast a shadow on Jayfeather and his father. The gray tabby slumped on the floor, still sobbing.

“I probably lost,” Jayfeather moaned, clutching his bleeding stomach. “I didn’t save him.”

Crowfeather’s body moved in his grasp, but Jayfeather was in too much pain and confusion to notice.

“I might as well face it. He’s gone. His soul has been eaten who all I know.” Above him, came a soft, shy voice.

“Whose soul?” Jayfeather ignored it, thinking it was the cleaning boy.

“Masala probably finished feeding off of him. Boy, and he’s sure going to come for me next. I gave him the most trouble.”

“M - Masala? The voice stuttered, seeming to get smaller.

“Yeah, that sucker.” Jayfeather agreed, curling his tail over his belly wound. “I tried to find him for decades and the guy had my father the whole time.”

“You’re Jayfeather, right?” The voice asked, as if scared of the gray tabby. “You’re bigger than I remember.”

Jayfeather sighed, too upset to talk anymore. The voice went on talking, as if it didn’t realize the current dilemma.

“Last I saw you, you were so tiny.”

Jayfeather gave the speaker an annoyed glance. **You are a baby though so accept your babying**

“What do you think I am…?” Jayfeather stopped. Crowfeather’s ocean blue eyes peered down at him curiously, observing him. He wore a dazed look, and a sickly smile crossed his lips.

“My head hurts,” Crowfeather declared, stumbling away from Jayfeather's tight hold. “I want to throw up.” **"and half of my soul has been devoured help me smol son child"**

“Same here.” Jayfeather smiled, and fell back, head knocking on the floor. Everything turned black.

In his dreams, nightmares plagued him. Masala’s formless shape followed him everywhere until Jayfeather saw the demon leap into his body. **Yipes** Everything went red for a while, until Jayfeather went somewhere else and Masala would jump into him again. This happened over and over and over until Jayfeather jerked awake. He was in a medic’s room, tucked into the folds of the sheets.

He glanced to his right, where Crowfeather was sound asleep in the cot next to him. The tom’s drool dripped onto the floor, and his tail twitched as he snored. **awwwww cutie**

“G’evening!” A cheerful voice piped up. Jayfeather whipped his head to the side to see brown tom with clear blue eyes **BLUE-EYED KESTRELFLIGHT WHAT-** standing there, bandages in his paws. “The advisor will be out for a few more hours until he’s ready to wake. You’ve both been asleep for three days straight!”

Jayfeather could count nine white specks on the tom’s fur before he moaned, and had to rest his head back on the pillow. The brown tom kept on chattering as he washed his paws in a bucket of soapy water.

“Your friends found you after you and the advisor were found blacked out like that. You lost a whole lot of blood. I kept some of it in a vessel for you to see.”

The tom pointed at glass bottle of red liquid on the countertop. Jayfeather's eyes widened. No wonder he fainted.

“You’ll have to stay in bed until we’re sure that your well and strong. The advisor is much different, however. He threw up when we dragged him here, and he kept talking nonsense until we gave him a few poppy seeds to rest on. He should be fine.”

Before Jayfeather could say anything, the brown tom started to talk again.

“Your blood is awesome leech feed. They really like it when one eats a lot of sugar. It’s their favorite!” **Aw, Kestrel has some pet leeches! How cute!**

Jayfeather squinted and noticed that little black worms were swimming around in the vial. Half of them were dead. The gray tabby cringed, nose wrinkling in disgust.

“I need to see Lionblaze and Breezepelt.” He whispered, too weak to speak loudly. The tom flicked an ear.

“Eh? Speak up, I’m half deaf you know!” **Probably because Harespring used to scream at him all the time (they're not brothers here, but that still doesn't make screaming at your doctor-friend right)** Jayfeather gritted his teeth in annoyance.

How was he to know that this cat was hard of hearing. He spoke up, a little louder.

“I need to see Lionblaze and Breezepelt!”

“You need to see to the hazes with your seatbelt? Speak up!” Jayfeather mustered all of his strength, and screeched.

“I need to see Lionblaze and Breezepelt! Bring them here!” The brown tom nodded, and quickly shuffled out of the room. A little later, Lionblaze stuck his head in the door.

“Jayfeather? You’re awake!” Jayfeather gave the golden tabby a weak smile.

“Where’s Breezepelt? Is the princess safe?” Lionblaze gave a grin, and Jayfeather noticed that his friend had a few teeth missing.

“He’s right behind me, WITH her highness.” The tom removed himself from the doorway, and a brown tabby she-cat stepped in, her lavender dress flowing with her gracefully.

Breezepelt strutted inside, no weakness from the experience with the machine showed. **Eyyyy, Breezy back!** All the happiness in the world showed on his face until he saw Jayfeather, battered and missing clumps of fur, barely able to move in the bed. 

“Jayfeather! What happened to you?” His gaze went from Jayfeather to Crowfeather sleeping in the bed. “HE did this to you?”

The black tom hurled himself at the sleeping tom, amber eyes alive with rage. **Bad Breeze there's no honor in attacking a half-dead soul-chomped cat**

“Breezepelt, no!” Heathertail grabbed him by the paw. **Thanks Heather because if he laid a _fingie_ on Crow i would be vewy mad** “Don’t kill him. Let Jayfeather tell us what happened.”

Breezepelt gave a snort, glaring down at his paws while Lionblaze tried to squeeze his big shoulders through the door. **Also forgot to mention that Lionblaze is a literal giant here**

“He nearly killed him, Heathertail! I should give him a few marks to remember. Plus, he was working for Harespring! We can’t trust him!”

Heathertail held up her paw for silence.

“No more.” Breezepelt sighed in defeat, and sat in a nearby chair. Heathertail’s violet eyes focused on Jayfeather. “So, you’re the one who tamed this tom? Well done.”

“Thanks,” Jayfeather croaked.

***waits for happy ending***

***chatter in earpiece* oh, what's that? I didn't FINISH?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN**

**Welp, that's all I've got. And I really do like it! There were good parts, there were some awful parts, but all of that adds up to make something better in the long run. The worst part of this was the ceremony, but uh I spared you of that I hope. I hope I looked over this well enough and got rid of most of the ceremony**

**Also, there are questions I have. This was so long ago, I can't remember most of what I had in mind doing it! But I think it's nice that Crow and Jay can do some delicious father-son bonding and Breeze is the hero and Alder is Miggery and the spicy boi got whooped. Yes, it may be a little... plain for a story.**

**The hero(es) defeat the enemy, one gets the princess (who is the boss of him still), and everything's okay. But I was a littler leaf back then and I think enjoy simple things. Sometimes, a story doesn't _have_ to be too fancy (if that's the adjective to be used) to enjoy, and I remember I enjoyed writing and rereading it so much, and honestly, that's all that matters to me. Everything that you write is like a step in a staircase. Each time you do something, even if you think you're not learning anything, you're improving. **

**Sorry just got too sappy for a hot sec**

**To conclude, would love to see a castle life where these guys all have to share life in the palace though. I mean, I know this isn't perfect (far from it), but I would kind of like to expand on this Warriors x The Princess Bride universe!**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To end, thank you so much for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!


	5. My Immortal Cat is Naked

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In that AU where Jay is one of those cats except he's not a cat and Alderheart has been accidentally letting the dude in his room whenever he sleeps without pajamas
> 
> They're not cousins here  
> it's fine...  
> but that not no license to start smacking the frosting on top of the cupcake and i hope you don't catch my little drift here

The short man sighed, nervously drawing invisible circles on the table.

“Well, I need to contact my family in the mountains. Tell them I’ve been safe.”

“You have family?” Alderheart questioned in surprise, setting a mound of fluffy eggs, two sausages, and toast spread with jam in front of his… new roommate.

It really was a stupid question, but part of Alderheart assumed that Jayfeather was the only cat-transforming-human in town. The fact that the man had family both interested yet frightened him. What if they all came over?

“Of course!” Jayfeather replied, taking a measured bite of a sausage and shivering pleasurably at the savory, apple-y taste. “I have a brother, Lionblaze, a sister named Hollyleaf, and the eldest of us is Breezepelt. He went on his excursion long ago, but he hasn’t returned. But he does communicate with us, so that’s how we know he’s safe and sound. He even found a human wife, Heathertail.”

“You guys… marry with humans?” Alderheart asked with a wince as he fixed his own plate. “Won’t the result be… a bit weird?”

“Well, not necessarily.” Jayfeather lapped at his cranberry juice before nibbling more on the sausage. “Our magic is hardly existent in our human kin. Only when two Clan cats mate with each other, do the kits get shapeshifting and other abilities.”

“So you can turn into other things?!”

“We prefer to remain cats, other animals, or humans, and we don’t like to switch forms too much. It puts strain on our matter.” Jayfeather ended the conversation by changing the subject and picking up a fork. “So, humans use these metal sticks to eat with?”

“Um… just one last question?” Alderheart sat down, biting his lip nervously. “Is this the first time you’ve been human?”

“Second time. My first was very long ago. All of this wasn’t even on your land-stretch.” Jayfeather glared at him, pupils going to slits as he raised another piece of food to his lips. “Any more questions, or can I eat now?”

“Sorry.” Alderheart took the hot sauce and constructed a sandwich from the items on his plate, cutting the meal in half with a knife. “I mean, I’m just curious.”

Jayfeather was too busy shoveling his food into his mouth to reply, blue eyes shining happily as he chomped on a piece of sausage. Alderheart followed suit, although being much neater as he ate. Both finished their meals, hands sticky with jam and hot sauce. Jayfeather licked his hands clean while Alderheart shuffled over to the sink.

“Look, I’m taking a day off to look after you, alright?” Alderheart ruffled Jayfeather’s long curls. “Maybe we can freshen you up a bit. Give you a bath, and I could go out and get you some new clothes.”

“Your human pelts?” Jayfeather observed Alderheart’s red sweater and gym pants with interest. “Mine are quite constricting…”

“Like I said, they make some looser than that. I’ll just have to get a move on to the mall before it gets flooded with people.”

“Could I accompany you? Do they have lavender at this ‘ma-hall’?”

“Um…” Alderheart glanced at the short man. “Look, I really don’t know if you coming is a good idea… There are large crowds and it’s loud, and I just don’t want you to get spooked…”

“I told you, I’ve been in a crowd before, maybe a few centuries ago!”

Alderheart froze in shock.

“You’re joking. Maybe you mean months.”

“I don’t mean moons.” Jayfeather grinned, sharp teeth glinting. “I mean centuries. Gaps of one hundred years to you humans, I think.”

“Wha…? But you look so young!”

“I am the kitten in my family.” Jayfeather mewed, granting him a sly wink. “Come on, let’s just go already! I need the lavender, and you need your garments for me!”

“I…” Alderheart leaned in the doorframe, burying his face in his hands. “Okay… let me get my stuff.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alright then! time to do my little review thing in the next chapter, so let's do this!


	6. Review (really just me talking) of: My Immortal Cat is Naked

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sort of review time

The short man sighed, nervously drawing invisible circles on the table.

“Well, I need to contact my family in the mountains. Tell them I’ve been safe.” 

“You have family?” Alderheart questioned in surprise, setting a mound of fluffy eggs, two sausages, and toast spread with jam in front of his… new roommate. **oooo yummy**

It really was a stupid question, but part of Alderheart assumed that Jayfeather was the only cat-transforming-human in town. The fact that the man had family both interested yet frightened him.What if they all came over? 

“Of course!” Jayfeather replied, taking a measured bite of a sausage and shivering pleasurably at the savory, apple-y taste. **you enjoying that** **too much now** “I have a brother, Lionblaze, a sister named Hollyleaf, and the eldest of us is Breezepelt. He went on his excursion long ago, but he hasn’t returned. But he does communicate with us, so that’s how we know he’s safe and sound. He even found a human wife, Heathertail.”

“You guys… marry with humans?” Alderheart asked with a wince as he fixed his own plate. “Won’t the result be… a bit weird?” **Good question**

“Well, not necessarily.” Jayfeather lapped at his cranberry juice before nibbling more on the sausage. “Our magic is hardly existent in our human kin. Only when two Clan cats mate with each other, do the kits get shapeshifting and other abilities.”

“So you can turn into other things?!” **yeah WHAT NOW-**

“We prefer to remain cats, other animals, or humans, and we don’t like to switch forms too much. It puts strain on our matter.” Jayfeather ended the conversation by changing the subject and picking up a fork. “So, humans use these metal sticks to eat with?” **you not slick boy you not changing the subject that easy**

“Um… just one last question?” Alderheart sat down, biting his lip nervously. “Is this the first time you’ve been human?”

“Second time. My first was very long ago. All of this wasn’t even on your land-stretch.” Jayfeather glared at him, pupils going to slits as he raised another piece of food to his lips. “Any more questions, or can I eat now?” 

“Sorry.” Alderheart took the hot sauce and constructed a sandwich from the items on his plate, cutting the meal in half with a knife. “I mean, I’m just curious.” **yeah you are that guy just went from a gray tabby to a naked man on your couch**

**i should really rewrite that part someday huh**

Jayfeather was too busy shoveling his food into his mouth to reply, blue eyes shining happily as he chomped on a piece of sausage. Alderheart followed suit, although being much neater as he ate. Both finished their meals, hands sticky with jam and hot sauce. Jayfeather licked his hands clean while Alderheart shuffled over to the sink. **that's a nice little detail i think, cause you know how cats clean themselves**

“Look, I’m taking a day off to look after you, alright?” Alderheart ruffled Jayfeather’s long curls. “Maybe we can freshen you up a bit. Give you a bath, and I could go out and get you some new clothes.”

“Your human pelts?” Jayfeather observed Alderheart’s red sweater and gym pants with interest. “Mine are quite constricting…”

“Like I said, they make some looser than that. I’ll just have to get a move on to the mall before it gets flooded with people.”

“Could I accompany you? Do they have lavender at this ‘ma-hall’?”

“Um…” Alderheart glanced at the short man. “Look, I really don’t know if you coming is a good idea… There are large crowds and it’s loud, and I just don’t want you to get spooked…”

“I told you, I’ve been in a crowd before, maybe a few centuries ago!” **Wait.**

Alderheart froze in shock.

“You’re joking. Maybe you mean months.”

“I don’t mean moons.” Jayfeather grinned, sharp teeth glinting. “I mean centuries. Gaps of one hundred years to you humans, I think.” **You almost got it but it's just a hundred years i think... idk i could be wrong twice**

“Wha…? But you look so young!”

“I am the kitten in my family.” Jayfeather mewed, granting him a sly wink. **THAT'S NO EXCUSE you should be looking like Rock right now** “Come on, let’s just go already! I need the lavender, and you need your garments for me!” **yeah we do, no more nakey kitty around here**

“I…” Alderheart leaned in the doorframe, burying his face in his hands. “Okay… let me get my stuff.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhhh this was was more boring, yet more pleasant. yes i cut out the cringeier parts before and after this segment because i can and it was also not finished so yep
> 
> I do like this concept now though. I may want to do something on it later!
> 
> thanks for reading and making it this far in this entire mess of words


End file.
